Self Analysis Post

Throughout my blogging experience I discovered many new and different things about my topic of illegal immigration.  When I first started my blog I had one idea in my head and that was it.  As I started researching my topic some more I started to learn about other ideas on the subject.  I learned more about the different political views our country shares on the issue.  The problem that I had to overcome was becoming unbiased in my argument.  At first I only talked about my side of the argument while barely grazing over the other side of the argument.  As I progressed through the assignment I learned how to share both viewpoints while still effectively conveying my argument.  I also learned many interesting facts and statistics which allowed me to make a more compelling argument.  What I found very interesting was the history of illegal immigration in this country.  This allowed me to share background information with my readers, which many found to be very helpful and interesting as well.  After doing more research I learned about many of the problems that have arisen due to the increasing immigration problem.  The crime, healthcare costs and anchor babies, are all major problems caused by illegal immigration that I did not know about when I first started this blog.  I feel as though this blog has allowed me to become more informed on this topic and in turn inform others who might be uninformed.  Raising awareness on this issue I found to be of the upmost importance because something needs to be done about this issue that is causing Americans their jobs and money.  This blog project has really allowed me to see the different aspects of illegal immigration and become more open to other ideas.

Links Post

http://www.endillegalimmigration.com/History_of_Illegal_Immigration_in_US/index.shtml

This link gave me all the information I needed on the complete history of immigration in the U.S.  This was a very informative link and it helped a lot in allowing me to understand the history of illegal immigration and where the problem first started.

http://www.illegalimmigrationstatistics.org/

This link gave me many statistics that were useful in presenting my argument.  This link allowed me to show exact numbers to help make my blog much more accurate and informative.  This was a very helpful link for me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html

This link talks about the new law that Arizona enacted in its fight against illegal immigration.  The reason I find this link interesting is because this new law is the toughest law on illegal immigration to date.  It shows what some states are doing to protect themselves from the growing problem.

http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/anchorbaby_FAIR.html

This link discusses the problem of anchor babies in America.  This is a very serious problem and this link does a good job of giving some detailed information about it. The link also explains what actions America has to take or can take in order to solve this problem.

http://immigrationcounters.com/

This link is another statistical site that shows up to date statistics on cost and numbers dealing with illegal immigration.  The reason I really liked this site is because the numbers they give are current and there are also many links on the site that you can use to further explore the illegal immigration issue.

http://www.helium.com/items/813587-immigration-republican-and-democratic-party-positions

This link does a good job in showing the two polar political views on illegal immigration.  Through this link you are able to learn what both sides believe in and what they think should be done to solve this problem.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm

I like this link because it shows what illegal immigrants are costing us in the healthcare department.  With healthcare as big an issue as it is right now, this link allows you to look at how illegal immigration is causing us even more problems in the healthcare department.  The link does a good job in explaining a key problem caused by illegal immigration. 

Anchor Babies

Another big problem that accompanies illegal immigration is what we have come to call “anchor babies”.  I touched briefly on this issue in one of my earlier posts but will go into more detail in this post.  These babies are born of illegal immigrants and under the 14^th Amendment of the Constitution any person born on U.S. soil is considered a U.S. citizen.  Most of the time U.S. officials will not separate parents from their kids even if the parents are not citizens of the U.S.  This allows many illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. without going through the proper procedures to become a citizen.  The other problem that these “anchor babies” present is the costs that these babies incur.  Since the parents of these babies are not true citizens the costs of providing for these babies are covered by the taxpayer’s money.  The controversy arises because to solve this problem you would have to amend the 14^th Amendment.  This is something thought that needs to be fixed somehow.  I do not really know how to solve this problem and right now no one really does.  Since 2002 there have been approximately 5 million “anchor babies” born in the U.S. which is costing the U.S. approximately $6 billion a year.  Some states are trying to make laws that would deny citizenship to “anchor babies”.  I don’t see these states having much success because they do not have the power to over throw the Constitution.  How this problem gets resolved will be very interesting and I feel there will be a lot more controversy in the years to come.  

Class Links Post

http://cholywar.blogspot.com/

I really like this blog because it is covering such an interesting topic.  The author gives really good background information on the subject and gives very good and unbiased viewpoints too.  Reading the blog is very entertaining and informative at the same time.  Before reading this I did not know that this serious problem was actually going on.  I am glad I read this blog so that I am aware of what is going on around the world.   Reading this blog is well worth your time and I highly recommend it.

http://mosqueman2010.blogspot.com/

The reason that I like this blog is because it talks about a very controversial topic that is going on in today’s world and gives you very good and unbiased information on it.  I didn’t know much on this topic before I started reading this blog, but after reading it I feel that I have a much better understanding on the matter.  Anyone that wants to learn more about the Mosque and the controversy surrounding it should definitely take a look at this blog.

http://techspeckk.blogspot.com/

This blog talks about the going green movement.  The reason I found this blog interesting was because i have always supported the movement to create better and cleaner energy sources.  I am glad somebody decided to blog on this topic because I feel that Americans need to be more aware of what could happen if we do not do something to change our habits.  This blog gives very good details about what is being done and what still needs to be done to create cleaner energy sources.  A very well written blog.

Cartoons

Implications Post

Coming to a solution for this growing problem is going to be very difficult and something I do not see happening very soon.  The reason for this is because the two political sides are so far apart from each other, with neither one willing to compromise.  If a solution is not put into place then this problem will just get more out of hand than it already is.

            Right now illegal immigrants account for”29% (630,000) of the inmates in all state and federal prisons are illegal aliens—at a cost of $1.6 billion annually”.  The costs that illegal immigrants bring upon our country are massive.  If they are left to go unchecked then these costs will only continue to rise, something that our country really does not need right now.  The longer our government sits and argues about what the best action to take is; our costs continue to increase in order to cover the increase in illegal immigrants.  No one likes higher taxes but that is what is going to be the consequence of not handling the problem.  How else would the government afford to cover all the costs illegal immigrants incur?  A big problem is the healthcare costs for illegal immigrants.  When illegal immigrants go to the hospital for injuries and don’t have insurance to cover the treatment, who do you think picks up the tab?  We do!  We have to pay for the losses the hospitals take from treating these patients with our taxes.  Our government needs to do something about this and do it fast.

            You could argue granting amnesty to these people and make them pay taxes and everything would help just as you could argue securing the border would help.  Whatever the solution is, it needs to be put into action fast.  The longer we wait to fix this problem the more money we end up spending.

The other side of the Arguement

                I noticed that many of you feel like I have only been showing one side of the argument, so I thought I would bring you the other side’s point of view more thoroughly.  If you have read my blog you have noticed I take a more conservative view on the matter, but I want to stress that I do not believe in every aspect of the conservative perspective.  The more liberal side has a very different outlook on this situation.  This side wants to focus more on providing amnesty to those immigrants who are not “documented”.  This would allow immigrants who came into this country illegally to receive the rights granted to every U.S. citizen.  They don’t feel that arresting and deporting a mass of people is fair and cost efficient.  I do agree with this.  Mass deportation would cost the U.S. billions of dollars, which is not something the government needs to be doing with spending already out of control.

            The liberal side believes that illegal immigrants should be entitled to educational and health benefits, just like American citizens receive.  They want to incorporate these people into our society and care for them.  Yes this would require taxpayer’s money to support these people until they were able to care for themselves, but you have to look at it from the view that you are helping those who might have come from a far worst situation back home.

            I am not saying that I necessarily agree with this perspective, but I feel that it is a bit more information on the liberal point of view.