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Carla, Keven, Felipe

Mr. Jacobo

American Studies

November 8, 2018

Falsified Philosophies

United States is notorious and selective of who arrives in the country. On several

occasions America denied the acceptance of many ethnic groups. Often times immigrants were

the chosen prey for Americans. The United States is referred to the, “land of the free, home of

the brave,” but what makes it the Land of the Free if not everyone can pursue their dreams and

live in the same country freely, without the sickening treatment? How can it be called the home

of the brave if the same country that claims bravery treats its people like animals. What is so

brave about dehumanizing people who seek opportunity. Immigrants come to the US hoping they

get jobs to earn more money for the family but are often rejected once their labor is completed.

The Immigration Control and Reform Act prevented immigrants to live a normal life. In

(Document B), the society saw the immigrants as a problem to the United States and later

became a topic of discussion. President Ronald Reagan signed the immigration control and

reform act in November 6, 1986 which was aiming to control the lives of the immigrants. These

laws give immigrants amnesty and/or papers only for those who entered the U.S in Jan. 1, 1982

and for those who didn’t make it over that time weren’t given this opportunity. The candidates

were to show that they had no criminal records, came over before Jan. 1, 1982 and possessed a

good amount of knowledge about the history of the U.S, government, and english language.
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Immigrants that migrate to America would be admitted basis on their skills. In (Document J),

Immigrants would be separated from their families,

Several misconceptions are made about “illegal aliens.” In (Document A), the book ​Real

Women Have Curves​, the main character Ana, goes into depth of the term “illegal aliens.” She

states, “In the U.S undocumented people are referred to as “illegal aliens” which conjures up in

our minds the image of extraterrestrial beings who are not human, who do not bleed when

they’re cut, who do not cry when they feel pain, who do not have fears, dreams and hopes…”

America has created an idea towards immigrants that they are not accepted. They have created

more than just a layer of structural racism, the U.S. created masters of rejection. These so called

“illegal aliens” are more than just scapegoats and cheap labor, these same people who work on a

daily basis to make ends meet have hopes and dreams that America does not seem to fathom. In

(Document E), it is evident that new-coming immigrants are more likely to achieve a higher

education than U.S. citizens born in America. Americans use immigrants as a scapegoat, but

ironically they still manage to achieve greater lengths than those who were given opportunities

since they emerged to life.

Immigrants being seen as terrorist and the problem to the US. In (Document D),

Executive Order 13780, Donald Trump signed the Executive Order 13780 on March 6th, 2017. It
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caused Americans think their safety was threatened because immigrant kept on coming in

illegally. Trump supposedly signed the order to protect all the Americans from the “perceived

threat”. This order stopped all refugees from entering the US for 120 days and it also stopped

Visa applications for over 90 days. It can connect to what Trump is still trying to do which is to

get the border taller in 2018. He is also separating families and it’s making families suffer.
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Works Cited

Davis, Payton. “Immigrants Are More Likely to Have College Degrees than U.S. Citizens.” 2015