The presentation of Alfonso Gonzales’s book “Reform without Justice: Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State” can be discussed as a kind of the political activity because the meeting is organized as the panel discussion of the United States’ current policies related to immigration issues.
According to Gonzales’s statements and ideas presented in the book, today the United States refer to the strategy of the anti-migrant hegemony in relation to Latino migrants. Gonzales claims that it is necessary to develop the comprehensive immigration reform which can contribute to the rights of Latino immigrants who are often criminalized within the society because of the US inappropriate immigration policy (Gonzales, 2013, p. 24; Reform without justice, 2013).
The attendance of the meeting is important to become more informed about the political issues because the leaders of the Mexican communities presenting at the meeting discuss the problematic issues with references to the real situations and evidences.
From this point, the event adds to the active discussion of the Latino migrant politics with references to the actual examples. It is rather difficult to correlate the issue of the global capitalism with the idea of the immigrant civil right movement without participating in the discussions during the meeting.
Focusing on the emotions associated with the discussed ideas about the necessity of the comprehensive immigration reform, it is necessary to pay attention to the desire to support the claims of the Latino migrant activists because the issue is closely connected with the problems of ideological focus, immigrant rights movement, and social prejudice which should not be observed and developed in the democratic society.
Moreover, the detailed discussion of the immigrant rights movement in relation to the racial prejudice issues is effective to receive the more clear vision of the reform’s idea and effectiveness.
The problems analyzed during the panel discussion are closely connected with the concepts studied during the course. Thus, the focus on the Latino immigrant rights can be considered as significant in the context of discussing the principles of the 21st century democracy in the United States.
The problem is in the fact that the challenges experienced by Latino immigrants in the United States because of the weaknesses of the immigrant policy allow speaking about the inappropriateness of definite political approaches and strategies (Reform without justice, 2013).
Thus, following the concepts studied during the course, it is important to note that the effective democratic society is free from racial and ethnic prejudice. The issues discussed at the meeting respond to creating the picture of the diversified political background in the United States. Furthermore, the discussion is important to pay more attention to the issue of the Latino civil rights movements with references to the stories of the certain persons participating in the meeting.
The meeting can affect the person’s life and viewpoint with references to rethinking the role of politically active groups in the reforming processes.
The attendance of the meeting was necessary to learn more information about the activities of such groups as the Hispanic Congressional Caucus and the National Council of La Raza which work is rather controversial and provocative in relation to contributing to the comprehensive immigration reform (Reform without justice, 2013). It is possible to notice the effects of the discussed anti-migrant hegemony more clearly with references to discussing the concrete evidences and the activities of the politically active groups.
Heather Mac Donald on the Issue of Immigration
Heather Mac Donald is the Fellow at the Manhattan Institute who works at the problem of immigration in the United States. In her works, Mac Donald argues that the effective development of policies in the United States is closely associated with proposing the liberal immigration policy which can address the needs of thousands of migrants from the Central and South America (Heather Mac Donald, 2013).
According to Mac Donald, any additions to the current approach in relation to the immigrant politics can improve the situation and respond to the needs of the communities because adequate liberalization is the necessary aspect to provide the positive atmosphere within the society.
Mac Donald states that many numbers associated with the rates of immigrants who develop businesses in the United States are inappropriate and cannot reflect the real situation in the social and economic spheres of the American society. It is impossible to state that illegal immigration caused the rates associated with the unemployment of the Americans. According to Mac Donald, these immigrant groups cannot be discussed as risky for the development of the US economy (Mac Donald, 2006).
However, Mac Donald also claims that the struggle with the illegal immigration cannot be effective enough, and it is necessary to pay more attention to avoid the immigration of persons who cannot add to the welfare of the society in the United States.
From this point, the national wealth can be improved with references to accepting educated immigrants from the Central and South Americas. That is why, the immigration policy can be changed and improved with references to the idea that well-educated immigrants can contribute to the national wealth significantly (Mac Donald, 2006).
In her articles, books, and interviews, Mac Donald provides arguments to support the idea that the current approach of the US government to regulating the immigrant policy is rather ineffective because the government is concentrated on limiting all the types of immigration from the Central and South Americas (Heather Mac Donald, 2013).
As a result, following such immigration politics, the Americans fail to gain more benefits from immigration. Moreover, the shift of the focus from the possible illegal immigration to the legal immigration is also important for the Latinos who discuss immigration as the only way to improve their living conditions.
The refusals to provide the status of legal immigrants for the majority of the well-educated Mexicans and representatives of the South American countries can lead to weakening definite industries in the United States. From this point, the carefully developed immigration policy oriented both to the progress of the national economy and to the attraction of the legal immigrants can be discussed as the effective strategy for the US government to improve the immigrant politics and economic sector in the country (Mac Donald, 2006).
Heather Mac Donald’s ideas on the immigration politics issues are rather logical and credible. These points of view and arguments are supported with the significant research on the problem and a lot of provided evidences. Thus, the author’s discussion of the immigration questions and possible solutions related to the problem can be considered as necessary to address the issue of the ineffective immigrant policy and reforms in the United States in order to overcome the social and economic challenges.
References
Gonzales, A. (2013). Reform without justice: Latino migrant politics and the homeland security state. USA: Oxford University Press.
Heather Mac Donald. (2013). Web.
Mac Donald, H. (2006). Seeing today’s immigrants straight. Web.
Reform without justice. (2013). Web.