Illegal immigration is a huge issue going on through out the US and there are many different sides to the story. One being that peopce who are coming here illegally and working should have just as many rights as the people that are here legally, and of course the belief that they are illegal sending them back and making stronger defenses around the border.
On April 10, 2006, a friend and I headed out to San Jose not realizing what we were in for. The roads were blocked, tv stations were out, helicopters were flying high but one thing was for sure, there weren’t very many people out. There was one thing though, people kept looking down the street as if they were waiting for something. Around thirty-five minutes later mass amounts of people came marching down the streets, statistics stated that over 20,000 people were marching that day, and for one reason, to give illegal immigrants rights and to stop house bill HR4437.
One thing I noticed while walking the streets of San Jose, was many high school age kids, holding signs and loitering. I stopped and asked some of them why they were there, and I mainly got, “I’m not sure, but I feel like it’s a great cause.” Another thing I asked many of the younger generation was, what the house bill was and what it meant for their families and friends. Most responded with the same answer of, “What bill is that? I’m not really sure what it means.” This really disturbed me as a young journalist, because I know what it is I believe, and it felt like most were using this march as an excuse to skip work and school.
House bill HR4437 does a lot of things but here are some of the following effects it would have on illegal immigrants, whether or not they are bad is up to you.
• Being an illegal immigrant would be considered “unlawful presence” which means that being here would be considered a felony and those that are being prosecuted would be forced to serve jail time and would not be allowed to ever become a citizen.
• The department of Homeland Security would build up to 700 miles of fencing along the Southwestern border.
• State and local police would be authorized to enforce federal law, if they do not enforce the laws they will lose state and federal funding.
There are many things that HR4437 will do, but one can’t even begin list it all, but is definitely a huge issue. Go online and read up on some of the opposing viewpoints on the issue and write to your congressman about how you feel.
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