Boston bombing and Immigration Reform - How are they connected?

http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-bill-debate-sidetracked-boston-terror-issues-181229014.html;_ylt=AwrTV.IpqXVRuTIA0QDNt.d_;_ylu=X3oDMTQ5c3FrYTFqBG1pdANBcnRpY2xlIFNlY3Rpb24gUG9saXRpY3MgMgRwa2cDYTc0ZGUzYjEtNzVmZC0zMDBjLThhOWEtOTllOGYwYmNhNWZlBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnlfY29rZQR2ZXIDNWNiYTFhMDEtYWI4MC0xMWUyLWJlZjctYWViNDExMDMzOTcx;_ylg=X3oDMTNhYXBmM3U2BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDNWUyN2Q1YWItODI2MS0zOGYyLWExMTctMTAwNGIzMmFkZjBhBHBzdGNhdANwb2xpdGljc3x1LXMtZ292ZXJubWVudARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3

http://news.yahoo.com/tempers-flare-immigration-hearing-160230661--politics.html

In the wake of the Boston bombing, we are beginning to see some movement in Washington regarding Immigration Reform. The Gang of 8 recently released their blueprint immigration reform - focusing on security, but also creating a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. These two factors play a critical role for both Democrats and Republicans and you can see a progression of compromise in the Gang of 8 which will hopefully blossom into the Senate. The most serious question, is will The speaker of the house, John Boehnor of Ohio gain the votes he needs in the House of Representatives. This House has been very uncooperative and purposefully perpetuating certain social stigmas that negatively effect the immigrant community.

I am surprised to be using Rand Paul (R-KY) again in my blog for immigration. Recently Rand Paul had created an actual filibuster situation in the Senate, against the legal argument the Executive Branch has for Drone attacks on U.S. soil. This was an obvious hyper-politicizing filibuster by Rand Paul, but more importantly, Rand Paul is now coming out after the Boston Bombings in support of slowing down immigration reform legislation.

This move by Rand Paul is not a one man show, but there is support from extremists within the Senate, but also even from moderates. Marco Rubio (R-FL) used the Boston Bombing to emphasize the point of border security. I find this interesting because neither of the suspected terrorists are Latino, nor are their origins in the Western Hemisphere. The suspected bombers are actually Chechnya, one was a  naturalized citizen who did follow the legal procedure and the other was in the application process. I don't believe this bomb situation has any reflection on our immigration system. I believe this has more to do with the political forces within the Senate as opposed to something systematic.  

Although, this does not seem to be gaining support in the House of Representatives. John Boehnor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has come out against these arguments for slowing down immigration reform. He is actually cited in the second article, saying that he can see the benefits of reform, the most important ones are: who are they, why are they here, and what's the legal status? These questions can be answered, but we need to ensure that reform is based in reform of the system, not punishment of those who break the current system. I don't know if these measures of reformation are actually going to be adopted, or if we will end up spilling more money into a fence that will inevitably be jumped or tunneled underneath.

Brazil: Facing its own "Illegal Immigration" debate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22106284

As the immigration debate heats up in the United States, there is conflict arising around the same issues in Brazil. The Brazilian state of Acre has seen a huge influx of illegal immigrants from Paraguay, Haiti, Senegal, Pakistan, from almost every corner of the globe. However, in the last two weeks there has been a flow of up to almost 2,000 people entering the state illegally. Normally these folks are headed towards bigger urban cities like Rio De Janeiro or Sao Paulo but much like undocumented immigrants in the United States, get caught up doing anything for a living. This influx has cost the State an estimated $1.5 million dollars on housing and feeding these new immigrants.

This influx is not economically focused like the wave of immigration in the United States, these influxes are related to natural disaster. Natural disasters can cause folk migrations much like an economic force, however unlike an economic force, these disasters may not reoccur. This huge migration may not happen again or it could begin to reoccur as Brazil becomes an important player on the international stage. 

However, much like the United States these "illegal immigrants" are working within the economy, for less than the average citizen. The article references a raid that occurred recently in Sao Paulo and Brasila, looking for undocumented workers in sweatshops. The raid found that these undocumented workers are working in horrible conditions, for almost no pay. This form of exploitation can be associated with the migrant agriculturalists who travel seasonally to and from the United States.

Seeing this article helped me realize that these problems are not just an American issue, but possibly a negative side effect created by living within the bounds of a state system.

The Associated Press makes a social move for comprehensive Immigration Reform

This week, the Associated Press released that they will no longer use the term "Illegal" to describe a person, but rather an action. This is important because most journalist use the "AP's style, when producing articles. The Associated Press wanted to clarify how the term will be used, therefore they released this statement: "Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration, but not illegal immigrant".

What does this mean?
This provides some insight to how journalism will begin to change the social construction of legal and illegal immigration. This, I would argue, is related to the movement in Washington by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This has been argued for by many civil rights organizations who focus on immigration, but also by immigrant supporters. This change will allow the social perspective on the individuals and families who are here, often documented but no longer authorized to stay because their VISA expired. This change in style is met with opposition, some what to call them Infiltrators and others believe that "illegal" is the best description for these folks. Ultimately, I believe this is a step forward for the culture around immigration, so we can begin to humanize these families and individuals again.

Making the distinction between an illegal act and person is critical for us to move forward on how to view immigration in the United States. With a global world, we will forever encounter immigration, therefore we need to set up a system that can accommodate the movement of people across borders, especially with our neighbors. Our economies (USA, Canada, Mexico) are so intertwined that we need to embrace our cultural differences to create a better and more diverse economy. This distinction to not call someone Illegal, will allow some of the more Egalitarians to accept these immigrants. Until now, many arguments against a pathway to citizenship was blocked by this social construction and application of "Illegal" in the media. Now that we are aiming to remove this term, we can only hope that we will progress further with true immigration reform. 

Senators Visit the Border, Immigration Bill is nearly complete...

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-senators-obama-immigration-reform-bill-april/1630583.html





Yesterday, March 28, 2013 4 of the 8 Senators who make up the "Gang of 8" made a visit to Nogales, Arizona. In my opinion, this move is to show some of the more natavist representatives in the country that the border is being inspected for security by this committee. Oddly enough, a women actually scaled the  18 foot fence while the Senators were there. Of course she was apprehended. This article doesn't mention anything about the women beyond the act. Although, Senator McCain (R-AZ) does use the incident to progress the status quo argument that the borders are not secure and there are threats too it.

Eric Cantor - a Republican in the House of Representatives is also mentioned in this article, alluding to the DREAM Act:
"We’ve got an opportunity to come together on one point, and that is the kids,” he told the U.S. news outlet. “If a kid was brought here by his parents or her parents, unbeknownst to them, and knows no other place … than America as home, why wouldn’t we want to give them a path to citizenship, and I think we should.”

This statement gives me hope for at least the DREAM act being passed before the 2014 elections. This also concerns me, because this could mean that true immigration reform will once again be pushed to the back burner and ignored until another problem arises. Not to downplay the importance of the DREAM Act being passed, however I believe the problem should be solved as opposed to bandaged.

Our economy calls these individuals here for work, because these unskilled laborers are normally working in manual labor jobs related to agriculture in the Southwest. This has been a historical movement of peoples, that was not enforced for much of American history. Instead of militarizing the border, we need to make the flow of legal immigration for work easier. Especially our neighbors who are apart of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Immigration Reform may not have been set to the back burner.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/bipartisan-house-group-nearing-agreement-on-immigration-blueprint/
http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/senate-considers-path-citizenship-immigrants-temporary-status/story?id=18737887

An equivilient gang of 8 bipartisan reps in the House of Representatives, who have been meeting for almost four years now, are finally coming together on a blueprint for immigration reform. This is critical since there is a Senate bipartisan committee who have been working diligently to try and get some sort of reform agreed upon. This recent publication about this Gang of 8 House Reps, gives me hope when looking forward to true immigration reform beyond the DREAM act. True reform requires both houses coming together and working across the aisle and through each house to agree.

My only major concern is how Tea Party extremists and nativists in the House will respond to this agreement in private committee. On the other hand, looking at how the House operates normally, basically party-line voting and the power structure, its not too "far out" for there to be agreement among the more moderate republicans and democrats. Fortunately the Democrats in the House only needs to pick up roughly 30 seats, we can hope that The Speaker can get those thirty votes.

I am fairly interested in the path to citizenship that is included for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This legal description has the potential to help lay out fair or unfair reform for the 11 million undocumented workers in the United States today.

Rand Paul's Filibuster only proves he's against Drones that kill "Americans" - Not "Illegal Immigrants"

In light of the recent Drone filibuster by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Americans on both sides are supporting Senator Paul's filibuster to attain more information about what the Obama Administration believes it has the authority to do with militarized drones to Americans in the United States. The catch here is not being concerned about militarized drones killing Americans or any human abroad who are "supposedly" engaged in "terrorist/illegal activities", but rather an extremely hypothesized idea that Americans who are supposedly engaged in anti-American (Terrorist) activities in the United States can be targeted. However, I believe the 5th Amendment and 14th Amendment protects Americans against our government using force such as Drones against us within our Borders.


My main problem with Senator Paul's argument is that he is trying to pick and choose which people he wants to fight for. He is okay using drones abroad to combat terrorism but the main issues I have with him is a public statement he made regarding immigration reform. 02/11/2013

"Border security, including drones, satellite and physical barriers, vigilant deportation of criminals and increased patrols would begin immediately and would be assessed at the end of one year by an investigator general from the Government Accountability Office" -Senator Rand Paul 
 
I am sorry, but I can't stand behind someone who is using a filibuster as only a political tool only to create more hysteria. How can you stand behind him when he is okay with using a hellfire missile against immigrants who are crossing the American border, even though as the 14th amendment states:   
 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Many of the protections from unwarranted assassinations of Americans on American soil do not extend only to "citizens", but rather ALL PERSONS. This is an important distinction to make, because Rand Paul does not realize he is also throwing away the Constitution.


How did the Obama Administration respond?
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/obamas-drone-muddle-88614.html

Bracing For Sequester, What Will Change?

http://www.voanews.com/content/immigration-and-customs-releases-detainees-ahead-of-congressiona-budget-cuts-sequester/1611383.html

"Voice of America - News -Bracing For Sequester, US Frees Illegal Immigrants"
In the recent weeks, Congress has been postponing their responsibility to deal with the budget crisis in the United States. Much like the Fiscal Cliff, lawmakers are sitting on their hands until it is the last minute, playing political chicken, also known as Brinkmanship. This is becoming more interesting as the "automatic cuts" will begin taking place. I believe this is becoming a political pawn for both sides, to argue that the other side failed the American people. I believe this is being used by both sides to just make simple and "ax" like slashes from every department of government, instead of using a scalpel to ensure cuts are being done correctly.

These cuts are going to start being played up by each agency of government, Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) is now coming out of the woodwork and "letting immigrants go" to prepare for budget cuts. Stakeholders both in favor and opposition of this release are also coming out with official statements, which range from, these folks should have been let go along time ago, and these are "dangerous" criminals.

What I think many people forget is the difference in crimes, for instance, in the United States we distinguish between two types of violations: malum en se  and malum prohibitum. Malum en se are the violations against ones body, for example: murder, theft, assault, etc. Malum Prohibitum are violations simply because the governing body says its a violation: Drug Policy, Speeding, Immigration, etc. This is an important distinction to make because many of these "unauthorized persons" are not malum en se criminals, but rather prohibitum. Malum en se immigrants in detention centers are remaining in Priority Detention.

The United States through our immigration system, purposefully made them an "illegal immigrant" by either missing the deadline to renew their visa (3:10 rule) or by eliminating local markets in Mexico which in turn create seasonal agricultural migration. These folks are not dangerous, but rather pursuing what even we would call "The American Dream". Freedom to move when the economy tells you its time to move. I believe that is what NAFTA should have improved, our local transnational immigration laws. Our immediate neighbors Canada and Mexico should have relatively free movement for the purpose of trade (land, labor, capital) within North America, since we have entered into a Trade Agreement and tacitly recognized that common interests can be met through cooperation.  



Sequestration - In light of ICE freaking out about budget cuts, I thought we would also take a quick look at the proposed sequestration.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/questions-answers-sequester/story?id=18623605&page=2
 In this ABCnews article we can see how it will work to a certain extent. $85 Billion over 10 months this year - this is to be carried out over 10 years (1.2 Trillion) both Defense and Non-Defense.
Programs exempt from sequestration: Food stamps, Pell Grants, Children's Health Insurance, Social Security, Veterans Benefits, Medicare (payments will shrink by 2% to hospitals).  

edit 3/1/2013: added (3:10 rule)