Friday, October 25, 2013

Immigration Interviews

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Interview with Katharine's Dad
 
I interviewed my father. His name is John and he is letter carrier. He is a simple man, but is usually never the parent I interview for school project so this was the first time I got to ask him questions. When I told him it was about a current event and immigration he kind of got a little nervous since he doesn’t know much information about either, but he said he would give it a shot and for next time to interview him if it had to do with sports.

Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?

Yes it is important because there it is a lot of people here in the states and a lot of people trying to come over. There are just too many people. I think about how in the beginning we used to be the melting pot and can understand it when people say they want to live in a free world, but some may take advantage of us and this country. It is important to regulate this and fix it so we as American citizens who have been here their whole life get what they need to and are still safe.

Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not?

Yes I think people in my community would agree with me and see it as a problem that there are too many people here.

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

I am sure there are policies out there I just do not know of any. (I then informed him of the idea of the California passing reform policy for immigration and what it is trying to do so I could ask him the remaining questions and his feelings.)

What are advantages of this policy?

The advantages would be to have it be passed. I agree with all the criteria so they have to learn English, pay debts, have a background check and wait the allotted years to become a citizen. When my ancestors came over seas many years ago when immigration first came about, they had to learn English to survive, there was no choice. Grammy, (My grandmother) would tell me stories about her family learning to speak English because the directions were never in Polish, their native language. It should be the same for people today.

What are disadvantages of this policy?

No not at all.

How might the policy be improved?

Every policy could be improved, can’t it? I don’t know how, but every one of them could use improvement.

Does the policy need to be replaced?  Why?

It isn’t in place yet so it should to be put in action.

What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?

Oh, I am sure there are disagreements about this topic and I am sure people all have different views about it. It is a controversial topic, I just don’t know much about it

Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?

I am computer illiterate so I don’t know if there are places to look online for them and I don’t know for sure. I am just a simple man who doesn’t spend much time thinking about these laws, I have family to take care and that is what I need to worry about.
 
My reflection:

This interview went pretty much how I expected. He was going to be a little confused, try to answer the questions, but only get a good sentence out of him. I can see where I get my thinking. My family, as you can see is really not informed about current events. We are much more into worrying about our own people, in our own world with the people we want to surround ourselves with. I do not think that is a bad thing, except when it comes to doing projects on certain current situations. My father kind of talked about how when people where coming over through Ellis Island, our ancestors, was different than what we have going on with immigration today. I can kind of agree with that. They both were coming over to make their lives better, but now a days I think certain, not all, people take advantage of the system and do it the wrong way. There needs to be a right way to do things so everyone can follow them so the people already here can be safe and they people becoming citizens as well. That is the biggest thing here, putting actual rules and laws about citizenship and immigration in place and then following them.  My father also seemed to know little about this topic, not surprising. My father watches the news, but that is mostly sports highlights and weather so he can be prepared for his work day. I really do not know what else to say about his interview because I don’t really feel any differently and I knew for the most part what he was going to say. The father like daughter I guess.
 
 
 
 
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Interview with Shauna's Dad
 
 
I chose to interview my father as well. His name is Michael and he is an engineer. He is interested in politics so I wanted to see what he had to say about this topic. He is usually excited when anyone wants to talk about politics or the government with him but I wasn’t sure what his feelings were toward immigration.
 
 
Is this a problem you think is important?  Why/ Why not?
 
 
Yes this problem is completely important. Many people are not educated about these types of things in the US. If the country continues to grow in the way that it is today I think there are going to be some serious problems. Americans should be taken care of first in our country. Too often it seems that we are worried about everyone else when there are people struggling to survive here who can’t receive the help that they need.
 
 
Do you think others in our community this is an important problem? why/ why not?
 
 
Yes. Many people talk about immigration today and usually it is seen in a negative light. People who know immigrants are more likely to support immigration but those who do not often oppose it.

What policy, if any, does government now have to deal with this problem?

There are many different types of policies that deal with immigration. For example, there is one called the investment policy which makes it possible for immigrants in the upper class to invest in businesses in order to get passports or become permanent residents; however, our government is often known for breaking human rights laws in the policies that we have.

What are advantages of this policy?

The advantages of the investment policy, which doesn’t only have to do with immigration but it is often tied in with it, is that it favors local investors rather than depending on people around the world. Today we often look to others for everything that we need so when we can do something ourselves I really think that its important.

What are disadvantages of this policy?

I’ve heard that since it is usually wealthy immigrants who can take advantage of this policy it can actually encourage organized crime. If something goes wrong in their home country, they simply come here and they are safe. If this is true, and I’m not exactly sure of the details, it’s clearly not a good policy for the country. It seems that there are ups and downs to it but I would have to do more research in order to find out the truth about it.

How might the policy be improved?

The policy could be improved if it could somehow benefit other immigrants, not only the wealthy ones who are possibly only wealthy because they are involved in organized crime.
 
Does the policy need to be replaced?  Why?

This policy shouldn’t be replaced since it is important in other ways to the government. I do think that it can be changed though.

What disagreements, if any, about the policy exist in this community?

I really haven’t heard anyone talk about this policy in relation to immigration. I just happen to know a little about it because I am interested in politics.

Where can I get more information about this problem and the different positions people take on this problem?

The internet is usually the best bet. That would be the first place I would check.
 
My reflection:
The results of my interview with my father were interesting. I am still not completely sure about how much he knows about immigration. He seems to have some knowledge about it, but I also know that he is a fairly strong republican so I expected him to be completely against it. He talks about the government a lot with the people at his work. He sometimes comes home and talks all about topics that the rest of my family has no idea about. I actually like to listen to him talk about it sometimes but at the same time I know that since he’s a republican I only see one side of everything. I know my father is worried about this country and he might have been hiding his true feelings since he knew this was an interview for my class. In reality, I am pretty sure that he does not think that anyone else should be coming to the country. He votes republican whenever he can and he has debates with people in my extended family which can get very intense. I have seen him get very emotional about these types of topics so I usually choose not to talk about them with him. He is a very caring person, but he thinks that some huge changes have to be made.
 
 

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