Speech

This speech is intended to inform and persuade Americans about illegal immigration in the United States. They should focus on the immigrants currently residing in the United States as opposed to continuing to close off the border.

Hello! As a college student who has been researching the issue, I am here to shed some light on immigration. Americans across the country, like most of you here today, believe the focus of the immigration issue should be placed on further securing the United States borders. Others believe the government should focus on the illegal immigrants currently residing in the US. Ideally, both of these aspects would be addressed and resolved at the same time, but this has proven to be difficult. The issue of illegal immigrants coming to America is a long standing issue that has never been solved. More recently, however, we have seen improvements.

Border Patrol has been increased dramatically in the past few years. Precautionary measures including surveillance cameras, flood lights facing the border, and additional watch towers are in place to help the effectiveness of Border Patrol. The number of agents patrolling the border in addition to the improved and added miles of fence along the border has not ceased, but slowed the flow of immigrants from coming over to America. According to an LA Times article titled “Is the border secure?” the intent of these improvements was not to completely close off the US-Mexico border, but to make it easy for Border Patrol agents to respond to those still attempting to cross.

Border Patrol Driving Along US-Mexico Border

There have also been attempts to help deal with the undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. This outrages Americans because they are able to reap benefits of being in America without contributing by paying taxes. For example, these people are able to get educated, work, and receive state and federal assistance which comes from taxpayer dollars. This needs to be the primary focus of the immigration issue. Border security has decreased the numbers of new entries but the government needs to work on legalizing or deporting the current immigrants. If they were to be legalized, they, too, would be paying taxes and more rightfully receiving assistance. It would be “fair” for their children to be educated in the same school system that taxpayer dollars fund.

Although the government has been focusing more on this aspect, the American people need to realize that this is where the difference will be made. It is not enough to just shut out the immigrants coming to America. The United States has a reputation for welcoming immigrants and we need to keep that. In addition, simply deporting all the people who have established lives in our country is not the answer. Children who were brought here by their parents have grown up illegal immigrants in America but have not been treated differently. These kids were not brought here by choice and don’t deserve to lose everything they know. If we can get them and their families to be documented, they would be able to continue their education and have career opportunities. By deporting, we could potentially be losing people who can make a difference in our country. If all illegal immigrants were deported, we would be losing many important players to our workforce. Although it is ethically questionable, these people do jobs Americans typically won’t at a price that Americans wouldn’t be willing to work for. If there were no more immigrants, the price of many common items would go up. Labor costs would drastically increase causing the same increase in what the company must charge for their products. If the focus of this immigration topic were placed on documenting current immigrants residing in the United States, we could keep the same way of living while having more documented contributors to the money supply. This will not be solved over night, nor should it be the ONLY focus of the American people. It should, however, be the primary focus at this time.

Works Cited

Marosi, Richard, Cindy Carcamo and Molly Hennessy-Fiske. "Is the border secure?" 10 March 2013. Los Angeles Times. 11 March 2013 <http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-secure-border-20130310-dto,0,7065262.htmlstory>.

Speech Rhetorical Analysis

"The Dream Is Now" Video

     The speakers in this video are all undocumented youth who have established lives in the United States speaking to the government officials in Washington. The fact that they are undocumented people makes them credible to be speaking about being undocumented youth in America. This is their ethos. They establish this by explicitly stating who they are. Their speeches use a lot of pathos with their facial expressions and their statements proving how they are normal people who are fearful because of their situations. They are students who are eventually going to be unable to attain their goals because they aren't documented Americans. They are essentially "pulling at your heart strings" in order to gain a reaction from Washington. They are trying to reason with government officials (logos) by trying to get them to take action. They are starting a movement in hopes of getting enough attention.

                                    

 

"Sec. Janet Napolitano: Securing the Border is Only One Part of Immigration Reform" Video

     Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano establishes her ethos simply by the position she holds in relation to the audience which is the general American public. She is the designated speaker in charge of the department that handles security of the nation's borders. This makes her credible in what she is saying because people recognize her position. She is able to make suggestions and people will be willing to listen. Sec. Napolitano is using logos by stating facts that the US border security has been increased, effectively. She gives examples of the security measures that have been put in place. She is also appealing to emotion (pathos) by using language such as "bring illegals out of the shadows so they can get right with the law." By stating this, she is trying to appeal to the listeners and get them to jump on the bandwagon. She is trying to get them to believe that what she is saying is the truth. 

     Both videos use each of the three rhetorical devices: ethos, logos, and pathos. They use them in different ways because they are coming at the immigration issue from different angles. The speakers in both videos have credibility in what they are saying because of who they are and what they are representing. When it all comes together, however, both videos have the same goal. The goal is to further raise awareness about illegal immigrants in the United States. In essence, they are both attempting to "bring illegals out of the shadows so they can get right with the law," as stated by Sec. Janet Napolitano. The undocumented youth want to be able to come out of the shadows without being deported in order to live their lives as "normal" as possible. They want to identify with their peers rather than just appear as though they fit in. While this is the goal for both, the youth mainly use pathos to get their point across and Sec. Napolitano uses logos.

Editorial

Increased control of the US- Mexico border has a positive effect on illegal immigrant numbers in the United States. This issue is discussed in a Los Angeles Times article titled “Is the border secure?” written by Richard Marosi, Cindy Carcamo, and Molly Hennessy-Fiske.

Border Patrol Has Control

By Alexis Veloz

12 March 2013

                America is known for welcoming legal migrants from all over the world. In recent years, however, many immigrants have been crossing US borders illegally. This has caused a stir among people born in America as well as the people who have gone through the legal process to become Americans.  The immigration reform President Barack Obama has in the works and the amount of illegal immigrants living in the United States is an ongoing hot topic across the nation.  Taxpayers and the government both agree there needs to be action when it comes to this issue; though, the approaches are completely different.

The government is trying to further secure the United States borders in addition to legalizing the immigrants currently residing in America. The American people, on the other hand, do not feel that the government is taking enough action to be able to solve this long time issue. A third point of view comes from the business owners who are benefiting from illegal immigrants. Some business owners use these immigrants for cheaper labor because they will do jobs that Americans typically would not. This is mainly to earn an income without having documents.

                One focus of the debate is security of the US Border.  The main concern of the government is the US-Mexico border because not only are immigrants crossing the border but because of the prominence of the Mexican drug cartel. The LA Times article, “Is the border secure?” written by Richard Marosi, Cindy Carcamo and Molly Hennessy-Fiske discusses the security of the US-Mexico border. According to this article, there have been improvements made to the border fence and an increase in Border Patrol. This has been hugely successful from 1986 to 2012. There has been over 700 miles of barriers and over 15,000 Border Patrol Agents added to protect the border (Marosi, Carcamo and Hennessy-Fiske). This is not an end-all solution, but it has made major improvements. The incompleteness of the fence provides specific areas with easy access to the United States. These areas are not meant to shut out immigrants; they are areas with a lot of Border Patrol to catch the people attempting the “easy way.” The areas that were once known as popular crossing paths in Southern California and Arizona have become the safest and least passed through areas.

Photo Credit: Don Barletti- LA Times

                In order to protect the US-Mexico border from new immigrants entering the United States, the government has done a great deal to effectively enhance the protection of the border. There are surveillance cameras, huge lights facing the fence, and patrol stations across the border for further protection. There is one instance presented in the LA Times article where a 23 year old migrant who has been deported wanted to test the Border Patrol awareness before attempting to cross over. He threw a cat over the fence and almost immediately Patrol agents swarmed the area thinking it was a person jumping the fence. As of recent years, migrant arrests have been about 350,000 per year. This is the lowest number since 1970, proving border protection has been increased and effective (Marosi, Carcamo and Hennessy-Fiske). Overall, the United States increase in border protection and Border Patrol has allowed them to gain more control over incoming migrants from Mexico.  

Works Cited

Marosi, Richard, Cindy Carcamo and Molly Hennessy-Fiske. "Is the border secure?" 10 March 2013. Los Angeles Times. 11 March 2013 <http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ff-secure-border-20130310-dto,0,7065262.htmlstory>.

Deferred Action

According to the US Department of Homeland Security website, Janet Napolitano has brought forth the Deferred Action. This allows illegal immigrants of certain specifications to remain in the United States for work purposes, given they meet the requirements.

Press Release

6 March 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA

DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS: IN ACTION!

New Opportunity for Select Working Immigrants Born In America

Illegal immigrants that have come to and remained in America since they were children now have an opportunity to remain in the country for work purposes. There are very specific requirements that must be met in order to be considered for Deferred Action. Each person will be analyzed on a case by case basis to determine whether they will be allowed to stay for the allotted two year period before renewal is necessary.

Janet Napolitano, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, announced that as of 15 June 2012, the Deferred Action plan will be in full effect. Illegal immigrants residing and working in the United States must file an application to be considered for the two year work permit. In order to obtain this, they must have come to the United States under the age of sixteen and are currently not older than thirty. The second requirement is being able to prove they have been in the United States continuously for five years as of 15 June 2012. Third, the immigrant must currently be in school, have graduated from high school, or obtained a general education certificate. The alternative to the school requirement is that they are honorably discharged veterans of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States. Lastly, and importantly, the applicant must not have been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, multiple misdemeanors, or pose a threat to the general public or national security.

If these requirements are met and can be proven, the applicant’s case will be carefully reviewed and analyzed. If it is determined that they are eligible to receive the permit to stay for working purposes, they can remain in the United States for two years. After this two year period ends, the applicant must reapply and their case will be reevaluated, with no guarantee of being allowed to stay. Deferred Action does not imply or grant citizenship or the pathway to citizenship. It is simply a permit to remain legally working in the United States as a non-citizen.

My name is Alexis Veloz and I am a student at California State University, Northridge. For my report writing class, I am researching the political issue of immigration and reporting my findings. I have gathered information using the US Department of Homeland Security website. To learn more about the Deferred Action, please visit www.dhs.gov.

I can be contacted through email at alexis.veloz.953@my.csun.edu. 

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