“What makes us American is our shared commitment to an
ideal- that all of us were created equal, and all of us have the chance to make
of our lives what we will.”- Barack Obama
The delivery man arrived at the
doorstep, and hope is in his hand, but the door separates millions from receiving
this package. This is America, the man is President, the door is Congress, and
the people, are the 11 millions of immigrants found in the United States, of
which five million, could be helped greatly with this package. In the latest
edition of the New York Times Upfront Magazine, the article “Immigration:
Obama v. Congress”, by Patricia Smith, the battle between Congress and
President Barack Obama is explained. On November 20, 2015, the President
announced his executive orders, on immigration, to the entire nation, leading
to the rise of various arguments on whether the president has the authority to
act, or not. Millions of immigrant support this order, where they must have
been in the nation for more than five years, had children in the U.S., pass the
criminal background check, and pay taxes. However, the Republicans in Congress
are committed to go against this order at all cost. However, throughout the article,
Patricia Smith shows to side with the Democrats and immigrants, and have this
controversial executive order be put into action and work properly.
This bias could be seen, as she
provides readers with robust quotes and stories, and also the other side of the
argument, which she uses to prove her own side to be the best. For instance,
during the middle of the article, Patricia Smith provides a quote from
President Obama, where he says. “Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of
a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our bed never have a chance
to get right with the law?” With this quote Patricia portrays the life of many
immigrants, who work for the benefit of everyone, yet they can’t live in this
nation without fear. This is the life that every immigrant, without documents,
is living at this moment, and writing this truth has readers feel sympathy for
the immigrants. This quote also has the loaded word “hypocrisy”, which makes
readers start to view the current way that the immigration system is, as
terrible and unjust. This may lead to readers to go against this system and the
republicans that are behind this system and want to enforce it. Also, Patricia
provides two stories, which provide the insight of the lives of two immigrants.
The first story is of Paola Fernandez, who came to America at the age of four,
and now is able to stay in America due to the president's previous executive
order of 2012. However, her family could be helped by this new executive
order. This shows readers that in the
past orders like this one helped many people, like Paola, and could still
impact lives and families in a positive way. Finally, near the end, Patricia provides
readers with the dangers that the other side, the Republicans, could/do have. She ends the article by saying that if the Hispanics
have helped Obama get to the office twice, and in the next election, their votes
could impact who gets rise to executive office, Democrats or Republicans. This decision
could greatly affect who will have more power within the nation, and to the
Republicans losing power would not be such a great idea. This could have
readers or the Republicans themselves, think twice about this decision. Patricia
overall, does an excellent job at presenting her argument and convincing many
of her view.
Personally, I totally agree with
Patricia and I believe that this action should be passed and put into action.
This action could really help many and help them rise out of the shadows.
Imagine living in fear all the time, knowing that you are about to be caught
and sent away from the land you have always dreamed of. Many are also being
abused because of their lack of documents, but this will help them stop this
abuse. If we look at the past of this nation, we are all rooted from
immigrants. The Native Americans came across the Bering Strait; many crossed
the Atlantic or Pacific, to get to America. Not one single race could claim the
land as their own, since every single one migrated here, and the nation was
open to them. However, now the nation is rejecting those who want to come to
this nation. Many say that the immigrants will only take away the jobs away
from the citizens of this nation, when in reality immigrants are just filling
in the jobs no one wants to do, the leftovers. They do this in hope to support
their families. Many immigrants could also be great leaders and invent things
or have new ideas that could lead our country to success. Is it better to fix a
broken system, and benefit millions of people, their families, and the nation,
or leave it ruining lives and the future
of America, with the lives.
