"Personhood" Campaign

In Mississippi, a state constitutional amendment was proposed that would limit

women’s reproductive rights. This amendment stated that a fertilized human egg be

considered a person, legally. If this had been put into place, it would mean that abortion

and some birth control would become illegal. Women would not be allowed to use the

‘morning- after pill’ or similar contraceptives, since it would be considered killing an

actual person. This leaves the state with partial control of the reproductive rights of

women. The campaign behind this proposal is called Personhood USA, which is a group

spreading throughout the United States.

The proposal was put on a ballot but recently voted down. Although it was voted

down in Mississippi, supporters of Personhood USA say that several other states intend to

get this on the ballots within the next few years. Many anti-abortion activists are jumping

onto this campaign, even though it includes much more than just abortions, like birth

control and women’s rights. As the director of the Bioethics and Health Law Center at the

Mississippi College of Law, Jonathan F. Will said, “My first thought, literally, was

people aren't going to understand what this means ... what implications it has beyond

abortions”. In many situations, it takes away women’s choice to decide, which has often

been the case throughout history.

Women have had limited rights over their own pregnancy in the past and today

around the world. Religion and culture has often restricted abortions and birth controls.

Historically, societies have been mostly male-dominated. In these societies, women did

not have a say in, for example, how many children they were to have. While we no longer live in a male-dominated society, limiting birth control rights go along these lines since

they take away from women’s choice.

Question: Do you think we need laws to outline when life begins, or should people be allowed to have their own opinion about it and make decisions based on that?Why?

Let the Women Die Act Passed

Last week a bill passed through the House of Representatives, HR 358 or the let the women die act. The act states that medical facilities can refuse to provide, pay for, and provide coverage for abortions. They can even let a women die in order to prevent an abortion. This new act ties hand and hand with the urban victim of violence act, which was passed in 2004. The law states that a fetus is a person and has rights separate from its mother. Both acts are very pro life and prevent women from having abortions.

Question: Do you think it was right for the house to pass this bill? Should women be left to die rather than given an abortion that could save their life?

Source: http://action.now.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4870

Women's Rights: A Call of Action

Follow this link to the American Studies Website to VIEW your primary source documents. They are grouped by theme, so you might need to scroll through to find yours.  Remember, you should click "view" and not "download".

Josh's Current Event

Deportations Under New US Policy Aren’t Consistent
This weekend I was researching about immigration and I came across two articles about deportation. In the articles, it talked about how the Obama Administration’s policy of deportation was putting forth their efforts on only deporting those illegal immigrants who are criminals. It states in an article from The New York Times that when the policy was put in action it confused many lawyers and officials because I guess it was spread out unevenly across the United States, so not everyone knew all the details about it but they heard about it. So the Obama Administration didn’t tell the public in a successful way. The policy was put into action in June of this year and the point of it is to deport criminal immigrants as high priority rather than every illegal immigrant coming in contact with officials. According to The New York Times, in the last three years, 400,000 immigrants were deported from this country; however, many of them were not criminals. So now, because they are finding that a lot of them were innocent, criminally, even though they came here illegally, the Obama Administration’s new policy is enacted to deport those immigrants who are criminals.

Another article that just came out yesterday, Monday, November 14, 2011, talked about the policy again being “applied unevenly.” A case that the article talked about where the Administration’s policy was not applied to, stated that Matias Ramos, a UCLA graduate and student activist found himself wearing an “electronic shackle” in September, was then deported to his home country, Argentina. He was given “temporary” social media reprieve and even though he had a clean record and therefore was not a criminal, he was deported even though the Obama Administration’s policy towards immigrant criminal deportation states that he could have remained in the country, he was still deported. There were a couple of other cases like this one that also happened recently, and that said the immigration policy needs to flourish through the states soon and efficiently so these cases stop and people don’t get deported when they don’t need to be.

The historical significance of this would be that before the policy the racial profiling was going on in the past, whether it was Arizona’s state policy where it was granted to the state officials to demand immigrants for their papers, or the Muslims being denied entry into the country.

Do you agree with the Obama Administration's decision in prioritizing deportation to the criminal illegal immigrants? Why? Also do you think that the activist Matias Ramos deserved deportation under the administration's new rule? Why/Why not? Do you think that the Obama Administration needs to spread the word better so people like Matias doesn't get deported when they are not the top priority?

SOURCES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/us/politics/president-obamas-policy-on-deportation-is-unevenly-applied.html
http://multiamerican.scpr.org/2011/11/obamas-new-deportation-policy-still-being-applied-unevenly/
http://www.truth-out.org/mia-obamas-new-common-sense-immigration-policy/1317131066

Women's Studies Essential Question

Choose one of the questions we developed in our brainstorming activity today to pursue over the course of this unit.  Choose wisely, for it will become your final assessment.  Feel free to borrow a question from the work of previous American Studies students (see below).

HERE IS SOME OF OUR CONVERSATION:

Woman are at a disadvantage politically
Marriage rates are declining
The role of the media
Women having no economic rights once married
Women accept their roles
de Jure (by law) v. de Facto (as a matter of fact) discrimination
The legal acceptance of domestic violence

How does the historical era in which a woman lives affect her rights?
Who has historically had the power to make the rules?
Has real progress been made looking at the present day state of women?
What is the changing role of marriage?
Why are laws not keeping up with the cultural advantages of women?
What role does the media play?
Why does sex sell?
What role do/have women played in perpetuating the problem?

OTHER ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

1. How does one accomplish change in society?
2. How can a disadvantaged group advocate for change?
3. What motivates groups to advocate for social change?
4. What methods can activists use to create social change?
5. What are the obstacles that groups face in their struggle to achieve social change?
6. What has been the changing role of women throughout American history?
7. Must groups achieve social, political, and economic rights in order to achieve equality? 
8. Should groups work within the system to create change or work from outside in order to force a desired change?
9. What effect does the law have on the way people act?
10. What has changed the way we perceive gender roles? What has not changed?
11. Why have we historically restricted reproductive rights?
12. How has our society’s power structure affected gender relations?
13. What role do the media play in perpetuating gender roles and stereotypes?
14. What’s the relationship between body image and violence against women?
15. Why is it important to study women’s history?
16. How has the role of women in politics changed over time? Or, not changed?
17. How is women’s involvement in politics limited by gender/societal expectations?
18. In what ways have women been affected by the law?
19. How have social activists created change?
20. What’s the connection between expected societal roles for women and the level of respect/power they’re issued?
21. How have American women impacted social and political issues globally?
22. In what way were/are expected gender roles for women different from expected gender roles worldwide?
23. How has clothing and appearance of women changed over time? Is there a relationship between the change and their political roles?
24. How have women’s professional roles developed over time?
25. What role has marriage played in the lives of women over time?
26. Has marriage become more or less of a societal norm for women, and why?
27. How do gender roles impact a woman’s professional life?

Tims Current Event

Why do women earn less then men for doing the exact same job? Even if they have the same background and experience women earn less then men. This has been an ongoing problem in the workplace for a long as people have been working. The federal government has confirmed that the workplace earnings gap between men and women still persists today. The earnings gap between men and women has narrowed, but a new White House report shows that on average women still only make about 75% as much as their male counterparts. Despite a sense of continued progress toward wage equality, inequality still exists.

It all started in WWII when women had to start working in the workforce doing jobs that men had traditionally done. They went into the factories and businesses because the men were all at war. The people who owned the factories discriminated against the women not paying them the same wages they paid the men and that same attitude has prevailed even up to today. The JFK Equal Pay Right law was passed in 1963 but since the law was passed women's wages have improved very little, going up a half a penny each year. At this rate it will be 2109 before they are paid the same as men.

President Barack Obama agrees in equality of pay towards women, but some Senators are still wary of passing more laws for women because of the affect it will have on small businesses fighting the legal battles.

Do you agree with Barack Obama in putting more laws in place for equal pay for women or do you agree with the Senators who think that more laws will create more problems and create more job losses for small businesses which will further affect the economy?

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-01/politics/female.income.gap_1_fewer-women-show-women-men-and-women?_s=PM:POLITICS

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay.htm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/31/cmi-equal-pay-report

http://bangordailynews.com/2010/09/19/politics/paycheck-fairness-act-on-thin-ice/?ref=relatedBox

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/equalpayact1.html

Women in America

FIRST - Your homework DUE THURSDAY is to complete the media log in your possession.

SECOND - Comment here regarding your initial thoughts about today's introduction to our Women's Studies unit.  What did it make you wonder/think/ponder?

Kirsten's Current Event

Article: DU: NO WATER OR POWER FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

http://decaturdaily.com/stories/DU-No-water-or-power-for-illegal-immigrants,87348

Topic: Alabama Immigration Law

Historical Significance:

-14^th Amendment passed in 1868: protects all born citizens in the United States- however by taking these rights away from the children that are born here and living with their illegal immigrant parents, they are not being protected.

-Immigration is a federal policy and it is being taken under the states belt-unconstitutional?

Decatur Utilities is a service providing over 30,000 people in the Decatur, Alabama area with water and power. It is run by the city of Decatur. As of Sunday 11/6/11, Decatur Utilities prohibited illegal immigrants from having access to electricity, gas, water or sewer service. Prior to this, residents who were obtaining services from the DU were required to provide identification and their immigration status was irrelevant at the time. Because of the new immigration law in Alabama, DU officials are now going through all of their client’s immigration status to ensure they are only providing services to those who are legal and documented. The US Department of Justice claimed that denying illegal immigrant’s service is valid under section 30 of the law, so this justified what the DU is doing as constitutional. Section 30 declares “it a felony for illegal immigrants to transact business with the state of subdivisions.” State Attorney General Luther Strange argues that this utility is not qualified as a subdivision. Stephen Pirkle the business manager and chief financial officer of DU stated that this has been imposed in the past few weeks but hasn’t begun to take away privileges of those who are illegal. Pirkle also explained how any person already receiving services will not be shut off and that this is only applying to the new people applying for services and turn out to be illegal. “Section 30 of the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act requires the state and its political subdivisions to confirm that individuals conducting “business transactions” — which the law defines to mean “any transaction” — are legally present in the United States.” By denying new illegal citizens they are simply following the law. State Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, the House sponsor of the law, applauded DU for taking the step. “Our goal was to prevent any business transactions with any governments. It’s just an extension of the goal of the entire bill — to prevent illegal immigrants from coming to Alabama and to discourage those that are here from putting down roots,” Hammon said. People favoring the DU’s decision to deny water and power to illegal immigrants they hope that this will fear people to come to Alabama illegally and if they are already here to self-deport. A conspiracy Clause was also added in which is convicting a person with a felony is they are to help an illegal immigrant seek service without being documented. Federal District judge Sharon Blackburn “concluded that Section 30 applied to commercial contracts and licenses at the very least,” in a September decision blocking enforcement of some portions of the law, and she hadn’t mentioned weather section 3 applied to utilities. Barney Lovelace a Decatur lawyer later confirmed that their utilities required documentation. The article also described how Huntsville Utilities in Huntsville Alabama set the same policy Decatur did.

Fear of this policy described how health ramifications would eventually impact the children, who in the majority of the time are US citizens; of the immigrants because they are not getting the appropriate services they need to stay healthy. This was defined as a policy “to make like more difficult by destroying households and families, and that’s just what it is doing.

Probing Question: Do you agree with what Decatur Utilities is prompting to do? Do you think the utilities that the DU provides are fundamental rights that should be protected by the fourteenth amendment and therefore granted to all U.S. residents?

Anthony's Current Event

After the terrorist attacks during September 11, 2001, immigration policies have been viewed as a matter of national security. Since all 19 terrorists were foreign immigrants who had entered the country legally, detecting terrorist activity became one of the top priorities of the government. in doing this the government increased immigration policies and racism was at an all time high for Muslim immigrants.

Tareq Abu Fayad was a 24 year-old Palestinan who came to the United States on a valid immigrant visa. Although Fayad had come here legally, he was not allowed into the country because police officials said he was a "possible terrorist threat". When asked why they thought this, their evidence was that he had an education in computer science and had a clear criminal record. Although this sounds more like a reason to let him into the country, officials said that he would be a perfect recruit for a terrorist group because nobody would ever suspect him as a terrorist. It is also rumored that airport security are sometimes willing to "look the other way" when it comes to racial profiling. Muslims or people who are perceived to be Muslims have also been detained for no reason other than suspicion.

This loop-hole puts people who oppose immigration an advantage against immigrants. By using the "possible terrorist" reason. Officials are able to detain immigrants with no other real reason than racial profiling. Immigrants are put at a disadvantage because, as in Abu Fayads case, they can only lose. If they have a clean record such as Fayad did, with no criminal record and a good education, then they will be labeled as a perfect recruit for a terrorist group. But if they do have a criminal record or a bad education, then they will be seen as not fit to enter our country.

On the other hand, National security is a very big issue as well as the war on terror. Although these accusations may seen hurtful and racist, it may be what has to be done to keep the country safe. By being harsh with these immigrants, although they may be deporting many non-guilty immigrants, they may also be deporting some guilty immigrants, who did come to the country on behalf of a terrorist group.

So what I ask you is...
Is it right to profile these immigrants they way these police officials have been?
And if it is not right, what can we do to stop racial profiling but still keep the country safe?

Links...

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=852

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sameer-ahmed/abusing-immigration-law-t_b_863494.html

President Obama's Immigration Policy

Watch this video and then complete your analysis of our American Immigration unit theme, "Ideal v. Reality".

Immigration Story Reflection

First of all, great job today everyone!  What a great experience it was to hear all of your family histories.  Comment here on the following:

Describe the complexity of the American immigrant experience.  What were some of the commonalities that emerged?  What were some of the things that surprised you?

Sam's Current Event

In the United States and other countries such as Britain and Australia, the use of private security companies has turned the detention of unwanted immigrants into a multinational industry. Governments are looking for private companies so that they can expand detention centers. This movement will show voters that they are enforcing stronger and tougher immigration laws. Some companies support this idea and say that they are meeting demands faster. But the production of privatized detention has been joined by other inspection reports, lawsuits, and documents that said this act was an act of abuse and neglect. Some human rights groups say that the detention centers has neither worked as a deterrent or sped up deportation rates. Now, private companies control nearly half of the detention centers in the United States. No country has completely outsourced these immigration detention centers that have been running since 1998.

Do you think it is ethically right that these illegal immigrants are being held in the detention centers?

Ariana's Current Event 11/3/11

            In the whole country, it is believed there are over 11 million illegal immigrants. In just Alabama, there are about 120 illegal immigrants. Because of this outrageous number, the state decided to create their own policy about immigration. This anti-immigration law became effective in September, as the strictest immigration law of any state. Alabama’s goal for the state was to make jobs and taxpayer-funded resources go strictly to just legal residents. The newly composed policy will aim to protect those rights and contribute to solving these issues of overpopulation of illegal immigrants. This law made it necessary for the need of paperwork to prove United States citizenship when enrolling in school, signing a lease, or interacting with the government.

This law is said to be the largest experiment yet for “attrition through enforcement,” which means they are driving away the illegal immigrants. To do this, they need to make life much harder for the illegal immigrants by enforcing panic and fear, and therefore producing suffering. In doing so, the unauthorized immigrants will want to leave on their own. Since most illegal immigrants in Alabama are Hispanic, unintended harassment has affected the legal Hispanic immigrants as well. The Hispanic children in Alabama are being bullied and discriminated against because they are said to be “different.” Some examples of these students being bullied would be when they win a sports game against American boys and the Americans respond with discriminating comments, such as “You shouldn’t be winning. You should go back to Mexico” This quote is from The Blaze website, said by parents trying to protect their children. Bullying to these students has always been a problem, but ever since this law came into effect, the bullying is much worse.

            The law has only been valid for a month and already there is the gaining of unpleasant fears for the people of Alabama. Most Hispanic houses are emptying, businesses are shutting down, and employers are questioning where their workers have gone. Parents are also keeping their children out of school because their parents are so frightened of what could happen. However, Alabama residents are concerned because they need immigration labor for farming. Native-born citizens of the United States lack what is needed to work on the fields. Even if they are unemployed, Americans are not willing to do this work. Americans do not have the stamina or the skill, so the need for Hispanic immigrants is high.

            One of the main reasons why Alabama wants to put this law into effect is because the population of the United States is said to double within the next 75 years with just legal immigrants. However, when adding in the illegal immigrant population, the population will double in about 40 years.

Do you think this policy is going to be effective or will it harm to state? Also, is it okay or is it an invasion of privacy for residents to be required to carry proof of being a legal immigrant? Lastly, what should they do about the bullying in schools? It’s not the child’s fault their parent is an illegal immigrant. Therefore, what do you do when an illegal immigrant has a child born in the United States, do you deport them both back to their country or just the parent?

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/opinion/its-what-they-asked-for.html?ref=illegalimmigrants

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/are-hispanic-kids-being-bullied-in-alabama-because-of-immigration-law-parents-say-yes/

Immigration Narrative Resources

Destination American: Why did they come?

Destination America: When did they come?

Destination America: Personal Stories

Immigration Overview

Library of Congress

Immigrant Housing

The History Channel - Ellis Island

Ellis Island Website

Crossing the BLVD

Migration

The New Americans

Other Immigration Websites

ASSIGNMENT DUE THURSDAY 11/3/11: Frank McCourt's "Tis"

Frank McCourt, pictured here in his classroom)

So we had a chance to read part of Frank McCourt's immigration story tonight. We learned that he had a lot of mixed emotions about coming to the States--on one hand he was excited to come, but on the other hand, we learned that he was going to miss aspects of his life in Limerick. Your job is to consider his story as an example for your own writing project. Here's your question: Respond as a comment to this post.



What was one aspect of Frank McCourt's story that you might consider using for your own immigration narrative? Think about how he starts the story (his reasons for leaving), how he gets the money to travel, how he prepares to leave, how he describes the journey, and how he encounters the new world in which he arrives. Which part did you find most interesting, and how could you adapt that part of the story structure to your own story?

My Current Event was about the United States giving out H-1B work visas to immigrants from India so they can work in the States legally because they can provide specialized skills. Most of the jobs that they come to work for are architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, biotechnology, medicine, health, education, law, accounting, business specialties, theology, arts and more. This is year there has been a 24% increase on the number of H-1B visas given out then last year. Last year only 54.111 visas were given to India. Currently there has been 65,000 h-1B visas given out and 20,000 additional visas to people who have Masters Degrees from other countries.

An H-1B visa is a non-immigrant work visa that allows United States employers to hire foreign workers who have a bachelors degree or higher to come work in the US according to the Immigration and Nationality Act section 101(a). They only work in highly specialized jobs. Their visa is only good for three years but after it is up the applicants can reapply or they can be given another visa good for another three years. They are payed just like the other workers in the company except if they choose they can pay money to get coverage so they do not go through fraud or anything bad.

United States has given out so many visas to India because they benefit us the most while they do their jobs. India has given more than twice as many H-1B as the four next highest countries combined. India also remains the leader in L-1 visas also. In 2011 more than 25,000 L1 visas were given out making it 37% of the issuance's worldwide. L1 visas are also good up to three years like H-1B but if the person becomes part of the management level they are able to stay up to seven years. They are assigned to work for people both in the Us and their home country. If they do become managers they are able to apply for a green card. India's Us consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata have expanded their staff to process the increase of applicants for a green card.

Untied States citizens are not to happy about so many H-1B visas getting handed out because they do not hold safe positions in their jobs. Any Indian can come to the States and take their job from them even if they have been working there for longer and are more qualified. The immigrant workers can move up and get promotions even if they have been there for a shorter time it is all about who is working harder and who seems to be the better person to have a job with more responsibility. Certain job advertisements are tailored to work well with immigrants too. The people giving out the jobs make their advertisements seem well fitting to the immigrants so they will think about trying to take the job.

The US is paying an extra $2000 dollars to get all the immigrants to our country which is affecting the companies here because they are spending their money to pay for the H-1B and L1 visas when they could be spending their money on their businesses. A bill was issued that could raise they price of the visas so there will not be so many of then and long trips will only be encouraged they cannot do trips for only one or three months anymore. This bill is currently in process and the visas are only a part of it so it will take a while to get approved or denied.

Question: Do you think the visas should be a higher price so there is not as many immigrant in our country? Why or why not?