Current Event Paper Huma 1100

Nathan Weber
MWF 09-09:50
21November2014
Executive Order on Immigration Reform

November 20th 2014, President Obama declared his intent to make an executive order to
reform the immigration laws. This comes 6 years after his promise to reform these laws. It
comes a year and a half after the proposed immigration reform bill has sat in congressional
debate, without actions being taken in the senate on the side of the Republicans. The
announcement was covered by all facets of political news groups and had primetime coverage on
television and radio. An interesting thing about the news coverage, is how much that coverage
varied between news companies. The variations can be attributed to bias spin (Baker, 1994).
There were 3 very different interpretations, or spins, of the event.
The first group to discuss were those that spun the bias against President Obama. They
were the outraged and upset reporters of the conservative right wing. An article written as
coverage of the Executive Order announcement, I had promised': Obama to announce
executive action on immigration Thursday in primetime speech, (Fox Newscast, 2014) was
written free of obvious bias. They did well at not calling names or appearing as an editorial, yet
they didnt focus much on the actual points of the Executive Order. They focused, in the article,
about the method used to put this program in place. They discussed the opposition to the
Presidents use of presidential powers. They were almost mirrored by the conservative leaning
reportings of USAtoday and their article Obama declares 'lawful action' to protect 5M
immigrants, (Jackson & Gomez, 2014).
There was a whole other side presented as well. The spin on these events look much
more positive but by omission leave out any questionable actions of the President. This side
leans on presenting the points in the Executive Order and sidestepping the issues of the debatable
implementation of the Executive Order itself. Articles written about the Orders legal effects on
immigrants were more informative, yet still maintained a lack of the entire story. Articles like
the Huffington Posts Obama Goes It Alone, Shielding up To 5 Million Immigrants from
Deportation, (Levine, 2014) share the intent of the Presidents Executive Order and its impact on
the millions of undocumented Americans. It still however has the subtle hints that show its leftleaning roots. It discusses the attempts of Republican Senators to kill the Order by refusing
funding and other options they could use. These are facts, but presenting them after listing the
positives of the bill presents the right-wing as the antagonists without ever declaring them so,
directly. This can be done by both parties, unfortunately. The article written by Michael Shear
for the NYtimes Obamas Immigration Plan Could Shield Five Million (Shear & Pear, 2014)
has all the information about the bill that you could require in your research, yet mentions
repeatedly the shortcomings of the plan. Without every specifically calling out poor intentions
of democrats, the author gives a good idea of exactly how he feels about the left-wing and how
the Executive Order is faulted.
There are many more varieties of spins and representations of the Presidents speech.
Some make a direct attack at the opposing parties actions. Such as in the CNN article
Republicans mull shutdown alternatives ahead of immigration order, (Bash, Barrett, & Walsh,
2014) in which republicans are directly attacked as the culprits of some deviant scheme. The
authors paint a picture of wrong-doing and failures, without ever addressing the issues of
immigration or the actions of the Executive Order. Some local authors do their best to have the
exact opposite approach. The Deseret News had an article called President Obama's
immigration reforms seek to 'deport felons, not families'. (Cortez, 2014) The most interesting
thing I find concerning that article is that it falls in a conservative news company, yet it focuses
on all the positives of the Democratic Presidents plan. The article is topped with the image of a
smiling Mexican child amongst ribbons and celebration of the Executive Order. Noticeably as
well, the article is written by a conservative Latin-American, by the name of Cortez. That could
be a reason for the lack of comments on the debates in the Senate, or the media battle about the
means of creating the Order in the first place. Marjorie Cortez could very well have been so
ecstatic about the impact on family that the rest of the negative connotations of the night were
lost on her. These are all things to keep in consideration when consuming the information
offered by the various media.
In our studies in the Humanities class we have discussed minorities and many aspects of
their lives. We have discussed Blacks, Asians and Latinos. Part of that discussion was about
balancing their heritage, with their newfound American lives and the tolerances, or lack thereof,
found here in America. I particularly liked the story Puertoricaness, and empathized with the
focus of the story. I cannot imagine having every aspect of your life remind you of another time,
with another lifestyle. I often wonder if waking up in the morning to life as a minority is worth
the freedoms and benefits that America claims to have for them. Why live the dichotomy when
you could stay where you are and live up to your own heritage? Yet, as President Obama states,
we are a country of immigrants. He also says that we are a country of Laws. We dont have a
national moral issue with immigrants that must be debated in court. We have a legal issue with
undocumented immigrants that must be discussed as a nation.
In the history of America there have been many instances of legal atrocity. Segregation
of African-Americans, or the internment of Asian-Americans are two huge instances to
remember. We must now find a way to balance the legality of our actions with the morality of
our actions. Whether or not the reason is to save face, or if the reason is because we actually
have matured as a society and advanced to a time of acceptable actions is not the debate, but
worthy of consideration. Whatever the reason, we as a Nation must find a means to address the
legal issues of undocumented immigrants, and the negative stigmas surrounding them. That
means must be one that is considered fair and just. Those terms, fair and just, will be debated
between the two political parties as far as a definition is concerned, but a general understanding
of them is found in society. Treat others as you would be treated. America failed to do that for
two and a half centuries with African-Americans. To avoid further racism in our country our
actions with undocumented immigrants must be more humane than what happened with AfricanAmericans or Asian-Americans. Yet action must be taken, before civil disobedience become
rampant.
I feel that President Obamas speech was well done, and the intent is clear. I feel that in
order to understand any current event, one must gather as much information as possible in order
to make a clear and educated summary. If I had only read one or two sources for my own
interpretation I would be just as biased as those sources. I dont have the entire big-picture,
because that is generally impossible. I do, however, have as much understanding of the event as
someone of my position can have. That is only found through a gathering of information and a
critical thinking and open-minded research throughout that information. Whether an event is
historical or current, critical thinking is key.
Works Cited
Baker, B. (1994). Archives. Retrieved from Media Resource Center:
http://archive.mrc.org/books/identifybias.asp#top
Bash, D., Barrett, T., & Walsh, D. (2014, November 20). CNN Politics. Retrieved from CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/20/politics/republicans-alternatives-in-immigrationwake/index.html?hpt=po_c1
Cortez, M. (2014, November 20). U.S. and World. Retrieved from Deseret News:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865616085/President-Obamas-immigration-reformsseek-to-deport-felons-not-families.html
Fox Newscast. (2014, November 20). Fox Politics. Retrieved from Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/20/obama-to-announce-executive-action-onimmigration-thursday-in-primetime-speech/
Jackson, D., & Gomez, A. (2014, November 20). News. Retrieved from USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/20/obama-immigration-joshearnest/19316835/
Levine, S. (2014, November 20). Politics. Retrieved from Huffington Post:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/20/365519963/obama-will-announce-relieffor-up-to-5-million-immigrants
Peralta, E. (2014, November 20). The Two Way. Retrieved from NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwoway/2014/11/20/365519963/obama-will-announce-relief-for-up-to-5-million-immigrants
Shear, M. D., & Pear, R. (2014, November 20). NYtimes Politics. Retrieved from NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/us/politics/obamacare-unlikely-for-undocumentedimmigrants.html?_r=0

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Nathan Weber

Executive Order on Immigration Reform

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