I found many interesting takeaways from this week’s readings and videos.

 

Admitting my naivety, I am unfamiliar with many immigration policies issued by the United States. With this being said, I was particularly intrigued that Biden’s administration had kept Trump’s Title 42 deportation policy intact. Given my unfamiliarity with either candidate’s stance on immigration or action during each campaign, I found it interesting that Biden kept Trump’s policy until the courts disregarded it. I found this interesting because it appeared to make stances on immigration less black and white than we typically think of political issues. I also found the video’s take on Biden’sduality of the immigration issue interesting. Biden’s somewhat strict and humane approach to the issue of immigration introduces the idea of negotiation and compromise between political parties and specific stances on immigration issues.

I found the article titled, “Trump promises to deport all undocumented immigrants, resurrecting a 1950s strategy − but it didn’t work then and is less likely to do so now” particularly frightening. The beginning of the article discussing Trump’s desire to “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” was particularly disturbing to read, given the bluntness and lack of explanation. I feel as though the article painted an accurate description of how strongly Trump takes the immigration issue and stressed just how strong of pillar immigration is in Trump’s campaign. I found the article’s description of the “Operation Wetback” movement somewhat contradictory to what Trump desired to accomplish with his immigration plans despite him using “Operation Wetback” as some inspiration. One of the biggest contradictories that particularly stood out was that one fundamental idea “was not to remove Mexican immigrants but rather to frighten U.S. farmers, especially in Texas, into hiring them legally.” The rationale behind frightening U.S. farmers to offer legal positions rather than to deport immigrants immediately seemed to entirely dispute Trump’s seemingly blunt claims of only working towards deportation.

Something I found particularly striking from the video, Fear & Hope: What’s It Take to Make Sanctuary Real? [NYC Immigration Stories] was the authenticity behind the immigrants taking the bus from Texas to New York City. It was incredibly emotional seeing and hearing the story of the immigrant mother who was separated from her son for three months and had her husband deported back to Ecuador. Hearing this personal account and seeing the people behind it made me think about my own family and how hard being separated for months on end without knowing when I would be able to see them next. It also emphasized the humanness behind these immigrants. In addition to that scene in the video, they are like any other human. I also found the scene with the protestors outside the Roosevelt Hotel incredibly compelling. Seeing the pure anger and unrest of protestors reinforced the profound controversy this issue has prompted for sanctuary cities in particular.  Despite being humans and only looking for better opportunities, immigrants coming into these cities are under consistent fire from protestors. This reality makes people like Power Malu, the founder of Artists, Athletes, and Activists,  even more significant in situations like New York. Boarding the bus in the video and welcoming these immigrants to New York was a comforting scene, given the treacherous journey so many had gone on to get there. Reintroducing hope and comfort, Malu appeared to act as a bridge to New York.

One of the last articles I would like to comment on is the New Yorker piece titled What’s Behind Joe Biden’s Harsh New Executive Order on Immigration by Johnathan Blitzer. It outlined Joe Biden’s stance and actions on immigration well. It also prompted a particularly engaging question at the end of the piece that made me think about why Biden might desire to bring attention to the Immigration issue despite seeming to mitigate it well.  “Why did Biden decide to issue a proclamation reasserting that there was a crisis when he’d actually been managing to keep it at bay?” It makes me think that Biden may desire attention to his current work on immigration to help promote the excellent work that he has been doing. Suppose a political candidate is being successful at what they are working on. In that case, I see no reason why they wouldn’t want to bring attention to the work that they are doing and bring eyes back to an issue that is being addressed adequately at the moment.