Author: mwilliams11

Forgetting It’s Common Humanity

The peer-reviewed journal “Forgetting Its Common Humanity: Americas Immigration Story” by Anita Maddali focuses on immigration laws and its impact on immigrant families and how the laws stray away from what the United States values. The journal touches on quotes and source experiences that have happened dating back to George Washington. The journal dives deeper into the complexity of the immigration laws and policies and how it has caused separation, instability, or both for immigrant families. The article comes off with a bit of bias in the sense that there is a potential persuasive voice. The author did a great good by showing positive and negative historical events that impacted immigration, however, it felt as I was being told a story with evidence to back up a point of view which I also believe is very much true.

 

Maddali used a quote from Washington stating “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent & respectable Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations and Religions (p133).” To show Americas values, then proceeded to list the challenges immigrants face such as long visa waits, penalties for violations (even minor ones), and a lack of discretion for leniency to deported or barred immigrants because of prior violations.Maddali even notes how the senate, the house, and members of congress believed that family -unity, humanness, and equality are important factors in Americas values. There was also a story about a young boy separated from his family telling Obama that he wanted a family like the president. Maddali showed how from the past to present just how immigration stories are common and have improved.

 

MADDALI, ANITA. “Forgetting Its Common Humanity: America’s  Immigration Story.” Brown Journal of World Affairs, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring/Summer2018 2018, pp. 133–146. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=131613723&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Double down on border closure threat

An article from The Washington Times written by Stephen Dinan was published on April 3, 2019. The article is titled “Trump doubles down on border closure threat”. The site automatically comes out from its site banner as a publisher from the right side. This article talks about how Trump earlier in the week planned to close the border but has now gone back on his word. The article says trump originally had his projections set on Mexico with the situation of overflowing asylum seekers in America, and now has his attention on Congress.

According to the article Trump wants Congress to create a new law that allows virtual assurances to families seeking asylum to be admitted into the U.S. and give them court dates years in the future so that they can disappear in the shadows. The article also notes that few will win asylum but most will not be ousted.

Knowing that this article is published for the right, I feel it was written in a way to rile people up. The author leads on that Trump is allowing a new way for immigrants to stay in the states. The article even mentions that 98% of the asylum families from 2017 are still in the states. The article had the comments in a debate between Trump not standing firm, the problems immigrants will supposedly cause for schools, prisons, jobs, and more, and what past presidents have done as far as denying asylum.

This article lacks credible sources and a non-bias tone.

Dinan, Stephen. “Trump Doubles down on Border Closure Threat.” AllSides, The Washington Times, 3 Apr. 2019, www.allsides.com/news/2019-04-03-0839/trump-doubles-down-border-closure-threat.

Asylum Seekers Return to Mexico

This article from Reuters talks about the large numbers of asylum seekers in Mexico. The Customs and border agency has recently sped up reassignments of 750 of its officers to man the Mexico borders. The trump administration plans on expanding its Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy immediately. This policy sends asylum seekers by the hundreds back to Mexico at large rates per day. Since March 26, 2019, MPP has returned approximately 370 migrants back to Mexico since its start in late January.
Trump administration believes the expansion of the policy will fix the current system, which they claim encourages illegal immigration. Last week Trump threatened to close the border if the numbers of asylum seekers increased. The article notes that closing the border would cause a lot of disruption with legal border crossing and trade. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador decided Mexico would help regulate the flow of central Americans passing through Mexico to the states to find the cause of the situation. Since then the U. S Department cut aid for Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador on accusations made by Trump. Mexico did not respond.
Shelters in Mexico’s border cities Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez are at capacity as the number of asylum seekers continues to increase. All seekers returned to Mexico on MPP have struggled to find attorneys. San Diego immigration Judge Scott Simpson said of one out of the four families that came to see him had an attorney (Espina, Torbati). Some attorneys
have denied taking on cases if families were located in Mexico’s border cities.
attorneys have denied taking on cases if families were located in Mexico’s border cities.
This article provides credible sources, different sides of the story, and a somewhat unbiased tone.
Torbati, Yeganeh, and Jose Espina. “Trump Administration Steps up Effort to Return Asylum Seekers to…” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 2 Apr. 2019, www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration/trump-administration-steps-up-effort-to-return-asylum-seekers-to-mexico-idUSKCN1RD2N0.

Hernandez Reflection

Carlos Hernandez was a wonderful guest for Stevenson University. It is always amazing to see the first generation do amazing things and make huge accomplishments. From Hernandez, i learned a lot about a genre of writing that I do not often read. I like how he mentioned that writing for different platforms is different. Writing for the web and for a game you have to know some basics of script like CSS, and HTML. Sometimes applications are created for clear communication between writers. I love how Hernandez talked about continuing to write even when you think it is not great work. Usually, I stop writing because I think it is not my best, but his advice taught me you can always go back and edit. I also like that Hernandez shared some behind-the-scenes information. A Disney contract is probably a good contract, sometimes work has to be done in a matter of days, and there will be times you will have to censor your work for a particular audience. Most of all I enjoyed learning about his ideal writing places. Writing in different spaces can inspire or craft a piece. It is also good to be around likeminded people and to be able to bounce ideas off one another.

Grant Idea

I had trouble choosing between the two, but I would like to have a run/walk to raise money for technology and awareness or a conference. At Stevenson, we have this event called Leaderstang which takes students through a variety of sessions on finance, mental outlook, work skills, and more to become better leaders. I think this event would work great tailored to AWE. This event will be a great opportunity to help the women of AWE with leadership skills and preparation for the work field. I also feel we could have a child version that focuses on learning and possible mentorship.

Entrepreneurship and My Future

Stevenson University had the honor of hosting an entrepreneurship panel. The panel consisted of six different entrepreneurs from different business paths. From each panelist, I gained useful advice and learned new things. From Chris Daley, founder, and principal of Whirlaway, LLC I learned that it is never too late to start a business. If there is something you want to do go for it. Daley had a role model teacher that inspired him to start his own business. Andrew Murphy, partner, and owner of Flying Frog Publishing taught me to figure out what I want, ask myself how am I going to get it, and what I am willing to sacrifice for it. This resonated with me because sometimes I put too much on my plate and forget I need to have a balance between what I can do, what I want to do, and how I am going to do it. Elizabeth Trimm, Branch manager of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, taught me to set goals for myself and not let others get in the way. Andy Brown, Founder, and CEO of Eat Pizza taught me to network with others. Networking will help me build relationships which can lead to more relations and aid in the future or at unexpected times. Garrett Pfeifer of Maryland Brand Management taught me to be confident. I took this advice as, if I’m not confident in myself why should others be?

This event related to our class when it came to how the entrepreneurs got their start. A lot of the panelist talked about starting up their business. A key point in their startup was identifying their personal why. In our recent works on rhetorical analysis, we look at purpose; the purpose and understanding someones why helps us figure out what something is supposed to do, mean, and represent. I also think this event relates to our class because of publishing. The panelist talked about branding themselves, mentioning press releases, creating a website, and networking. In our class, we focus on digital publishing, design, and context. When the panelists talked about colors, style guides, and staying on top of what is new I could relate it to our class. We are currently working with WordPress and learning information that can help us become better publishers and designers. This event helped me for my future because I plan to in some way be involved with technology.  The event also made me realize all of the opportunities available to me and what I can do to get my feet wet in the business world. Although I do not plan on being an entrepreneur, this information has helped tremendously.

 MIRC Rhetorical Analysis

Mariah Williams
Professor Licastro
English 256 OM1S
10 February 2019

Introduction

The Maryland Immigration Rights Coalition (MIRC) is a nonprofit as well as a nongovernment organization (NGO). This means that not only is it not for profit, but it also works independently from the government, and its purpose is to address social/political issues. According to the coalition’s mission, it looks to increase the availability and quality of pro bono and low-cost legal representation to low-income immigrants while educating the community on immigration matters; and to advocate on behalf of Maryland immigrants (marylandimmigrantcoalition.org).Through this blog post I will complete a rhetorical analysis on the site and note possible changes to improve it as well.

Audience

The intended audience of MIRC are people who are of all ages and gender interested in immigration as well as immigration in Maryland. This interest includes acts such as donating, volunteering, and staying up-to-date with everything immigrant from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE), travel bans, and sanctuaries. The primary audience is most likely people who are for the greater good of the country, have family or friends who are immigrants, want to learn more about immigration, or themselves are an immigrant. The author appeals to this by listing volunteers’ sites looking for interpreters and allows you to feel a part of their mission by letting people become members for a ten-dollar fee. The author also asks for mailing information after donations to keep those informed on latest immigration updates and events they have. The secondary audience is immigrants and immigrant families. The resources tab notes DACA, ICE, and sanctuary information that those who are immigrants or family of immigrants will find useful. The tabs answers questions like how to be prepared, the history, current status of, meanings, how to help, information to look out for, and more.

Purpose & Context

The purpose of this site is a bit unclear due to lack of content that sticks out. The site purpose may be to bring/raise awareness on immigration with a subtle call to action by donating, volunteering, and attending the coalition’s events. This purpose sticks because the site in its text pushes the education of immigration and bringing together communities. All of the header tabs prove this idea. The MIRC site is a WordPress website. The author may have chosen this medium because the world is constantly changing. If the site information were to be on any other medium it would be tedious to update. A website on a platform like WordPress allows quick updates and is easily accessible to all age ranges. The page lacks having a main focus or engagement. a lot of clicking happens which can make a viewer leave. usually one click or less is ideal. The header is a bit outdated and does not represent immigrants that well. I would suggest a new logo with a light contrast. The overall page is simple but due to color choice and lack of focal points the page does not stand out especially compared to other NGO sites.

vs

Genre

The genre of this website is an immigration awareness website. The site focuses providing legal help and advocation for Maryland immigrants and education to the Maryland community. Key features that support this genre is the resources, mission statement, and external links located throughout the site.

Author

The author of this website is not an easy find however, it appears a lot of the action comes from the executive committee. On the “About Us’ page it lists its board members. If the roles are strictly formal a lot of the site work would be done by its secretary, Maya Zegarra. Now that it is presently 2019 and looking not only at the site information and linked accounts like Facebook, the site needs to be updated. With information from 2017-2018 the only updated information notably changed are the links below with articles relating to about immigration

The ‘About Us’ setup lacks community. it is understandable for some safety reasons, however putting a face to a name makes people feel more welcomed.

Conclusion

The MIRC website has the potential to be an informative call to action site. The site needs to be updated and clearly identify its presence and purpose for people to take it seriously. If the author wishes to collaborate with others, the site must find a way to stand out and appear credible. Adding more content such as pictures and drawing back on clicking will make a difference. The site will also have to make drastic design changes and provide a stronger sense of community to make others want to get involved.

Works Cited

Maryland Immigrant Rights Coalition, 2017, marylandimmigrantrightscoalition.org/