The Nation takes a different perspective than NPR regarding the “Remain in Mexico” policy. This article titled “Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy Is Illegal Under International Law” from The Nation is against the policy because it’s illegal under international law to have people stay in Mexico before their trials. Returning back to Mexico may be difficult for those asylum seekers who have no job and/or connections locally. The Nation also discusses how it may be violent and dangerous for people to cross the border and return to Mexico, which is another reason why this policy should be reevaluated. One man interviewed in the article stated that his wife had been deported back to Mexico even though she was pregnant and clearly stated her fear of returning.
This article also has a bias; however, it is in the other direction from NPR. The Nation is focused on getting quotes and perspective from those asylum seekers that are impacted by this policy instead of government officials, which NPR was more focused on. Both of these articles are emotionally driven because of the quotes given from administration officials of the Department of Homeland Security as well as the asylum seekers. Although, people may feel as though The Nation’s article is more emotionally driven because of the direct quotes from those being impacted by the policy and having to deal with the violence and fear of returning back to Mexico.
Chen, Michelle. “Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy Is Illegal Under International Law.” The Nation, The Nation, 7 Mar. 2019, www.thenation.com/article/trump-border-mexico-international-law-human-rights/.
The article titled “’Remain In Mexico’ Immigration Policy Expands, But Slowly.” From NPR is for the policy to have people stay in Mexico before their trials. The “Remain in Mexico” policy is intended to discourage the increasing number of migrants that are escaping Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras to seek asylum in the U.S. immigration courts. This article discusses that the Department of Homeland Security is starting out with smaller numbers within the asylum seekers to be sure that the process is smooth running and it can hold before seeking larger numbers of migrants. If the process works and the coordination with Mexico is set, then the program could expand to Texas and/or other locations. Lastly, the article mentions that immigrant rights’ advocates are going to court in hopes of shutting the program down.
There is bias in this article because NPR is focusing on government officials and those enforcing the policy instead of those who are being impacted by the policy such as the migrants. All of the quoted statements that are included in the article are coming from administration officials within the Department of Homeland Security. These selected officials’ quotes show that this article is mainly focusing on where the officials are coming from and not how or what the asylum seekers are feeling towards this situation and policy.
Rose, Joel. “’Remain In Mexico’ Immigration Policy Expands, But Slowly.” NPR, NPR, 12 Mar. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/03/12/702597006/-remain-in-mexico-immigration-policy-expands-but-slowly.
Carlos Hernandez has a very interesting story, which is one of the reasons why his stories are the way they are. One thing that really stood out to me when Hernandez came to speak to our class was that he’s trying to be able to write anywhere. He used to have one specific place where he would sit down and write down his thoughts for a new piece of work, but then he began to realize that if he wasn’t in that specific spot to write he would make excuses to not write anywhere else. Hernandez told us that there have been many authors that have written books, poems, etc. in much worse conditions and it’s a good thing they did or else we may not have the insight to certain situations that we do today. I can relate to learning to write in different situations because before college I would always do homework at my desk, but then when I got to college and I had away games for softball I would make excuses to not do homework because I wasn’t at my desk. This has forced me to complete homework in different areas, which I think is a very handy tool to have.
For my grant proposal, I would like to set up a 5k walk/run for LIRS. I was recently involved in a 5k walk for the Hydrocephalus Association which included the walk itself along with tables set up for crafts, food, people from the organization to talk about hydrocephalus, toys and games, etc. LIRS could work together with Stevenson and host a 5k walk/run at the Greenspring campus where the cross country track is. People that attend from LIRS could give those attending the event more information about the organization. Those who volunteer to walk/run in this event could donate to the organization. This 5k walk/run would not only bring awareness about LIRS to others, but also donations from those volunteering in the event to help the nonprofit.
While attending the Entrepreneurship panel, I learned that most of the businessmen/women started in their college careers. One specific man, Garrett, said that you should make things that people need. For example, when he attended college he helped fix phone screens of his friends because they would always break and instead of going to the mall to pay around $100 to have it fixed, he learned how to do it himself. He just recently opened a phone repair shop in Towson. Another piece of advice Garrett gave was that you should always have two sources of income just incase one falls through.
Since I would like to go into logo and website design I found Garrett’s advice on starting business in something that people need to be very helpful and right up my alley. Considering that in today’s society technology is advancing and people are moving more and more towards online use, people that own businesses are looking for others to create a website for their company. I have made a couple designs of websites as well as logos for friends and work and will continue to network with others since this was advice given from every single person involved in the panel.
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is a nonprofit organization that is working towards protecting and empowering migrants and refugees through their Lutheran faith. This organization has helped many migrants and refugees and will hopefully help hundreds of thousands more. Not only do you have the option to donate to help this organization, you can also volunteer or become a partner through your church, service, organization, etc. This nonprofit utilizes a website to reach their audience and clearly define their intended purpose.
When you first visit the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service website you see the navigation bar at the top, followed by a split hero image that takes up the majority of the homepage above the fold. Below you will see part of the hero image that is displayed on the homepage of the LIRS website.
screenshot from homepage
On the left side of the hero image there is text that says “Asylum seeker. Immigrant. Refugee. Human.” Viewers that read this side of the hero image can see that the word “Human” is emphasized because of the linguistic and visual changes that are apparent with the word, such as the background blue color as well as the white font color. By looking at this text as well as the rest of the website above the fold, you understand that the genre of this website is a nonprofit website. If you look at the websites of other nonprofit organizations you will see that many of them have a hero image that either has a picture of people in need or state a short blurb of how they wish to help others. Other nonprofit organizations also have a more eye catching tab for donations to be made or a tab for people to volunteer to help the organization.
screenshot from IRC homepage
LIRS is one of those nonprofit organizations that has a navigation bar with one tab that catches the eye of those visiting the site because the font of the text saying “DONATE” is white instead of blue, like the other options in the menu, and it has a large orange colored bubble around the text.
screenshot from homepage
Because of this eye catching button, we can infer that the intended audience is towards donors as well as volunteers because of another tab labeled “TAKE ACTION”.
When taking a look at the “ABOUT US” tab it tells the viewers the background history of the nonprofit organization. This tab also has a dropdown menu that states the mission and vision statements, partners that work with and help LIRS, as well as the staff and leaders of the organization. The dropdown menu gestures improve the user experience by letting the viewers know when they hover over the tab, more options will fall underneath.
screenshot of Navigation Bar from homepage
From these pages we get a sense of who the authors of this website are. There are multiple names listed under the “OUR LEADERSHIP” tab so this means that there is a large group of people contributing around the United States from California to Maryland and from Texas to New York. When looking at each name individually, the Board Chair is titled “The Reverend Michael Rinehart.” Because of this title people believe that his credibility is legitimate as well as the information included within the LIRS website. Also looking at the partners that LIRS has, this is a potential secondary audience because in this tab there is a place to fill out information to become a partner. Whether the partner is a church, a service, or a foundation, these potential partners can view the existing partners of LIRS in the “OUR PARTNERS” tab as well as at the bottom of any page, there is a button that says “Partner Login” where you can access specific information regarding becoming a partner.
Because of the sections labeled “HISTORY” and “OUR WORK” that describe what the organization has done and will continue to do, this website is very informative. Viewers can access previous efforts that have helped many migrants and refugees along with future efforts that LIRS is hopefully going to continue to work towards. Not only is the website informative, but it is engaging, inviting, and involved because of the noticeable call to action with the “DONATE” button and the sans-serif fonts used throughout the website.
screenshot of My America page
Previously mentioned, this button is very eye catching so more people are inclined to visit that page and donate money to the nonprofit organization. The medium that the LIRS authors chose to use was web. I think the authors chose this particular medium over others because today more and more people access information through mobile devices since it is more convenient. People are able to look up information quickly, donate money easily, sign up for updates about situations occurring, become a partner with LIRS, share their own story, etc.
screenshot of My America page
This is much more convenient and accessible than looking at a flyer posted somewhere that tells people to go to a website or send money to a specific address or come into a nearby office to sign up, etc.
I think that the main intention of LIRS is to receive money from donors as well as help from volunteers that can help the nonprofit organization reach their mission and vision statements. I also think the authors of LIRS intended for more awareness of the nonprofit organization as well as more awareness about these current situations occurring today.
After analyzing the website entirely it is clear that the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service organization utilizes their website to effectively communicate their mission to their intended audience of donors and volunteers. Because of all of the modes and affordances within the website, this makes the website that much stronger and user friendly.
