Week 7 - Chloriza Avila - Section A02

Criminalization of immigrants is one of the powerful ways that this country gains control of those that come into America.  While I was reading The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigrant Detention: Implications for Justice, I thought about the history of America and the experiences of different minority groups and remembered how poorly they were being treated merely for being a person of color.  People of color from many different countries arrived here and struggled to find work that would provide them with a substantial living. Whether that was working in farms or at small businesses, minorities soon began to take over and started to spread out all over the country. Due to their advanced work and the social mobility they gained, the "superior race" began to accuse the minorities of stealing their jobs and began to see them as a threat.  It's actually quite funny that they claim this land as their own and dare to chase the people that have entered it, especially when we have created this mission that we are "the land of opportunities".  I feel that it's important to analyze where those who have immigrated have come from, and possibly, why they are here in the first place.  Some of the places that they are coming from do not provide them with any opportunities to thrive, and may be filled with corruption.  Criminalizing immigrants in America points the finger away from America and uses immigrants as a scapegoat for their own problems. Another question that came to mind is, if our ancestors hadn't immigrated here from America, wouldn't that mean that we technically would not be here?

Filipino American Immigrants 

Question:
Trump's persistent agenda is to literally build a wall that will essentially prevent people from crossing over the Mexico border. Do you think this solution will actually be effective? Will we have to continue to fund this wall if it actually does end up being created?


References:

Ackerman, A. R. & Furman, R. (2013). The criminalization of immigration and the privatization of the immigration detention: Implications for justice. London: Taylor & Francis.