Stealing The Dream: The Lies About Immigrants and Immigration

The American Dream steals the dream of immigrants, but why do immigrants feel it is blinded by lies? I will discuss and explore immigration reform from the fifth chapter of Lies, Incorporated by Ari Rabin-Havt and Media Matters for America. In 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States. Under his leadership, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program came into being. In other words, immigration reform is the act of changing the current immigration policies of a country. According to its strict definition, reform describes the process of changing into a new, improved form or condition by modifying or removing faults or abuses. Immigrant reform, specifically in the Hispanics or Latinos American border issues, is one of the crucial issues coming from the media and paces the political discussions taking place. There has been a debate over this topic since the founding of the republic. It has become more polarizing and complicated in recent years. Because the number of immigrants living in the United States used to increase, some people are opposed to immigrants coming here. In my research essay, I will discuss and explore immigration reform as politicians examine immigrants south of the border, to focus on how it has caused separations between citizens and undocumented immigrants, as well as the myths propagated by those opposed to immigration reform or DACA.

In June 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was established by the Obama Administration. On June 15, 2012, President Barack Obama announced the plan, and U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, began accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals during August 2012. At this time, Congress was trying to reach an agreement regarding DACA. The reason Obama created DACA was to provide an opportunity for those who are undocumented immigrants to gain citizenship.

The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Mujeres Unidas y Activas and The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights are relating to the immigration reform. The movement has tremendous appeal to me. Their goal is to defend the humanity of immigrants and fight against mass incarceration and racial profiling. In 2015, it was created with the aim of mobilizing congregations to take stands on issues of immigrants' problems, such as racism, discrimination, and of course political news. Those involved in this movement have a right to believe that they are standing up for all immigrants. These organizations help immigrants and refugees to find better life and find job for their children’s life. One of the great organizations, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, work to make the immigration system more fair and human. It is social movement to bring a voice so they stand up for immigration reforms and providing their perspective of political news on the immigration reform because they want to protect the well-being of immigrants. Once, it happened to the immigrants when it comes to discrimination, ICE, and political news on them. That is why this one want to help them to use their powerful voice and stand up for human rights and the dignity of all people.

An interview with a woman working for this organization, the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, has already taken place. Hilda Cruz works for the organization. Hilda Cruz is very inclusive, shares faith information, and discusses immigration reform. Her listening skills are excellent, and her actions as a fighter for immigrants are admirable. It is inspirational and encouraging that this organization is fighting for immigrants' rights. Their ability to see the 'human' side of things and to empathize with them makes them valuable. Additionally, she provided me with links for undocumented immigrants. The reason for my writing is that I found some resources.

How is it possible to separate children and families at the border? This was the time when Donald Trump was president. As part of his policy, he sent children away while their parents were sent to the ICE and deported. Currently, it is difficult for undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship. Hilda stated in the movement organization that DACA separates many undocumented immigrants from their families because of the court system. “Six asylum-seeking mothers and their children who were torn apart under the Trump administration’s family separation policy filed legal claims today against the United States government seeking monetary compensation for the cruel treatment and agonizing trauma they have suffered at the hands of U.S. immigration agencies”. It has affected many immigrant parents because officers took their children away from them and even did not tell them where their children were. In the government's treatment of children and immigrants, it felt like a concentration camp. For them, it was the worst experience ever. Rather than tearing apart families, the purpose of our immigration laws is to protect asylum seekers.

I would discuss former President Trump since he said awful things about Latinx refugees and immigrants. The reason behind illegal immigration with children was not to harm the US economy due to some reason. President Trump's comments have caused hurt feelings in the minds of undocumented immigrants. It also affects others who are anti-immigrants. While Donald Trump was there, he sent out horrible tweets about the undocumented immigrants during this time. He intended to make them leave their country by making bad tweets that intended to make them leave. According to “Illegal immigration hurts Americans workers, burdens American taxpayers and undermines public safety, and places enormous strains on local schools, hospitals and communities in general, taking precious resources away from the poorest Americans who need them most, said Trump”. As a result, Trump believed that illegal (undocumented) immigrants had a negative influence on the US economy due to taxes. Therefore, he believed that his comment meant they were being threatened by him. However, the fact remains that undocumented immigrants do not actually hurt the US economy. All they need to do is get their green cards and apply for citizenship.

For Trump, his fans, and anti-immigrants conveyed message is bolstered by the rhetoric of dehumanization. He sent message to everyone who is fan of Trump, to threaten the immigrants. When spreading fake news that is showing misinformation about the immigration reforms than truth does. Politics are the ones who affect people to think what it is true or false. According to this article, by Frazee, “Trump characterization of immigrants as people who drain public resources, however, is not backed by the data.” Trump’s messages which is very tricky but false, to affect people who prefer information that really fall for it. Because it is easy to show their bias and are inclined to accept information that made others agree with Trump about the stereotype of undocumented immigrants. Pointing to the immigration reforms in the early 20th century that gave rise newspapers and news tv with fake news that has misinformation.

According to Rabin-Havt and Media Matters, Dr. John Tanton who is an anti-immigrant speaks about the immigrants in this country. This caught my attention. Additionally, he was a member of what the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) calls a hate group. Among the hate groups Tanton created, he established a list that influenced people who oppose immigration. A few organizations have talked negatively about immigration, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumberUSA, and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). He was asking and saying, “Can homo contraceptive (Whites) compete with homo progenitiva [Hispanics] if borders aren’t controlled?. Tanton questioned whether the borders are controlling the inflow of Hispanic immigrants or not. Those who came to the United States were Hispanics or Latinos, which he dislikes. Tanton was a person who promotes white privilege and began his movement as an anti-immigration movement. According to me, this disseminates the lies that more people should come forward with the negatives related to Hispanics. It was his goal to demonstrate to as many people as possible their superiority over the whites. Even the legislation created to help immigrants was supposed to be blocked because of his ideas, which are lies. This caused the misinformation about the Hispanics or Latino immigrants who are undocumented.

Despite his opposition to the plans for improving immigration laws, Tanton believes that undocumented immigrants would benefit from the improvement of immigration laws. It was to push through his agenda that he planted seeds of doubt in the public, which were subsequently planted by racist remarks and stereotypical remarks. One question he raised was “What are the consequences of having so many ill-educated people coming in to low-paying jobs?“, which blatantly implied all individuals of Hispanic descent do not possess any academic abilities compared to the Caucasian population in the United States when they did not have those abilities. Tanton looked down upon those who are ill-educated, have low-paying jobs, and do not possess the necessary information to succeed.

The debate over whether undocumented immigrants contribute to the economy by paying taxes and working continues to polarize. According to the Right to DREAM: Immigration Reform and America’s Future, “The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a conservative advocacy group that favors tougher immigration laws, contends that illegal aliens cost U. S. taxpayers more than $ 100 billion each year. Jack Martin, director of special projects for FAIR, believes “undocumented workers leave taxpayers with a fat bill, considering that the government spends money on the workers, and they almost never pay income taxes”. According to Martin's argument, undocumented immigrants do not have social security numbers due to taxes, since they do not pay taxes nor have they received their welfare benefits. Some anti-immigrants believe that undocumented immigrants hurt American workers because they force them to perform jobs that cause them to pay taxes. Undocumented immigrants are more likely to work overtime than American workers as well. The statement was incorrect because, according to the study, undocumented immigrants face a number of issues relative to Americans and have been working tirelessly to get what they want: a green card to start a new life in the United States.

Frequently, the misinformation about undocumented Latinoa immigrants impacts decisions and feeds biases towards them. Furthermore, others debunked several misinformation that can have a negative on educators’ perceptions of students' behavior. A lot of young, educated, and undocumented students are hoping to find a job and obtain citizenship through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. According to Rabin-Havt and Media Matters, “Anti-immigration forces wanted to avoid at all cost the perception that they were opposing immigration reform based purely on xenophobia”. Anti-immigrants are against people who are from another country. This quote means to the anti-immigrants who would ban Latinoa immigrants and other immigrants because they were worrying that there may be an issue relating to tax illegal. While they are only there to get a job but there are some myths about them with xenophobia. For example, one of the myths in the article, “Immigration Reform and Education” by James Martinez and others, describes that “Teachers do not help their LatinaLatino students’ with social, cultural, linguistics, and economic challenges in their learning and achievement.” The quote emphasizes that Hispanic immigrants face a very difficult struggle in a country divided by political systems. In this country and in schools, Hispanic immigrants do not have any role models who they can look up to. “Richwine further asserted that the consequences of a large “low-IQ” population “are a lack of socioeconomic assimilation among low-IQ immigrant groups, more underclass behavior, less social trust, and an increase in the proportion of unskilled workers in the American labor market”. According to Rabin-Havt, Richwine, who got a Ph.D., argued that Hispanic immigrants are low-educated without degrees, just coming for a job and making money without paying taxes. Additionally, they never reach the same level as whites.

Polarization led some politicians to fabricate lies about Hispanic immigrants. The articles mention that many immigrants choose to move to the United States, but there are a few things politicians have misrepresented about Hispanic immigrants. However, their dreams turned out to be destroyed by Politicians, and they really wanted to share their American Dream. It is common for immigrants to enter the United States illegally because they find a way to qualify for a visa and green card that takes them years or even a decade. Politicians believe immigrants are not needed, but honestly, this country is a land of dreams with a multicultural society where people can feel welcome and thrive on their own. There are many cases of politicians spreading false news to hurt immigrants' dreams.

In conclusion, by analyzing misinformation about immigration reforms, it can be seen that social media platforms have contributed to the spread of false information about the lives of Hispanic immigrants. This relates directly to racism and misinformation conversional. In order to bring about reforms regarding immigrant issues, social media misinformation campaigns were launched. However, these examples differ in that the activities of a hateful individual will be reflected in a negative way on the perception of the group in question I believe that public policy and companies should take action to make sure that organizations are not used for spreading misinformation until they become so frail that they can no longer act. The immigration reform process needs to be rethought and expanded in order to allow more workers with manual labor skills and service industry skills to enter the country, allowing immigrants to realize their dream of becoming U.S. citizens.