Reflection #2

Obama and the GOP on immigration

The Salt Lake Tribune had an interesting article about the recent politics of immigration in the United States of America. According to the article, there has been a bit of a standstill with laws being passed. Both the republicans and the democrats agree that there is an issue with the 50,000 children coming in from South and Central America; however, neither party is working together. The GOP changes the subject or shoots down Obama's plans, and the few laws they have proposed have been vetoed by Obama, leaving many of these kids in a state of limbo, neither being given amnesty, nor being deported.

In The Distance Between Us, when Reyna and her siblings come to "el otro lado," (what people where Reyna grew up call the United States), they were with their parents; however, Reyna and her siblings had been without parents for over 5 years. She was with her grandma, but her "abuela" neglected her and so she, like the 50,000 unaccompanied immigrants had to be highly responsible and almost take care of herself. Again, even though there are parallels, the Central American children have differences to Reyna and her siblings, but even with these differences both groups of kids need help. The GOP should work with Obama and Obama should work with the GOP to help these kids out as their safety is more important than petty political rivalries.

Before I read The Distance Between Us, I didn't really understand why someone would want to desperately come to America. Although I was not completely against immigration, after reading it, and doing some of my own research, I now realize why someone would migrate from place to place. I now think that almost all of these children should stay in the United States for at least until the conflict in their countries clears up. I do not understand why people keep arguing about this; these are children, and we need to take action immediately.

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