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.
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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/