Applonie 1

Brady Applonie
Professor King
English 1A
6 December 2017

Immigration: Extremes of the Left and Right

The topic of immigration has sparked heated debate on both the left and right sides of the

aisle. There is no doubt that the very different opinions of each side has led to misinformation

being spread in the media. Liberals and Conservatives view the issue differently and this is seen

in how the news is presented. Some have issues over the effects of immigration into their

respective country, while others have concerns over humanitarian aspects of immigration. The

root causes of immigration are push and pull factors. It occurs when the conditions in ones

own country become inhospitable or undesirable. This pushes people out of one country. The

pull factors are when a specific country has much more desirable conditions and would allow

them to be prosperous. This is what draws so many to places like the United States and Europe,

as they are some of the leaders in high standards of living. The right of the aisle tends to view

immigrants as seeking to do harm, while the left views them more as the victim. Despite each

sides inclination to present the information in a certain way to benefit their agenda, it was

found that the mainstream news sources were a much better place for more standardized

information.

Liberal articles, just as right articles, tend to blow the issue out of proportion. Sometimes,

they will blame the issue of an increasingly partial America on the Trump administration. Steven
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Rosenfeld from AlterNet.org writes on the hot-button topic of immigration in an article titled

"Study Shows American High Schoolers Are Lashing Out in the Increasingly Racist, Anti-

Immigrant Atmosphere Trump Has Created". In the article, Rosenfeld tells of how Trump's

administration has caused the nation to see more racism in the public school system. He writes,

"Teachers have seen innumerable examples of white students preying on othersfeeling

empowered by Trump's rhetoric and policies." (Rosenfield 2017) This could be said to be fear-

mongering. Despite providing a study, most of the article feels very anecdotal. The wording

makes it out to be a larger issue than it may be. The words preying and lashing out depict

Americas high schools as being safe-spaces for bullying and violence. The main argument here

is that people now feel safe or free from danger to attack others simply because of the Trump

administration. Trumps views on immigration make some feel empowered to carry out their

hatred on others of different color. The article fails to consider hard statistics of these events

actually happening. The process by which they interviewed people may not be an accurate

representation of the true atmosphere or happenings in the field (at school with class in

session).

Another tactic used in the left is to make eccentric blanket statements about the other side.

Colin Taylor of Verified Politics reports on an incident at a pro-immigration protest in an article

titled "A Man Just Drove His Car Into A Crowd Of Protesters Outside Of A Republican

Congressmans Office". Setting up to demonize conservatives, in the article, Taylor writes,

"Attacking protestors with vehicles is a tactic favored not only by terrorist groups like Daesh

(ISIS/ISIL) but also by American right-wingers." (Taylor 2017) As can be seen already, Verified

Politics has a bias. Making such a blanket statement that all "right-wingers" attack those who
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disagree is ridiculous. The incident itself was questionable. Taylor writes that Wenzek, the

attacker, drove his car through the crowd slowly and in an intimidating matter. Attacking others

is deplorable and not condoned in any way. However, blocking an intersection restricts the free

travel of society and a more balanced article would have considered that. This article is leaving

out that barricading the rode is dangerous and is potentially the best way to get people to

disagree with you. When someone cannot get to work on time or a firetruck cannot reach a

patient going into cardiac arrest, the activists argument is effectively overlooked and is

associated with the negative event of blocking the road.

The right of the aisle reports are more focused on creating a divide between the victimized

white people and the malicious immigrants. Steve Edwards of MyRightAmerica.com documents

a story of alleged racism in the article "Immigrant Shoots White Guy Because Of Racist Look,

Instantly Realizes He Picked On Wrong White Boy". Edwards emphasizes that the white man

refused to move his car for the immigrant man and that caused the immigrant to shoot the

driver with a starting pistol. He says, "Unfortunately for him, this only made their white victim

angry." (Edwards 2017) The continued emphasis of each others race only acknowledges the

falsity that it matters. The wording of that quote also implies that these migrants actively

search for white people to prey upon. A fairer and balanced article would use less loaded words

and only focus on the facts. It is clear that the objective of the right is to make it seem that

immigrants immigrate for the sole purpose of victimizing whites and stealing their way of life

away from them. Also, at the end of the article, there is a survey asking readers if Muslims in

America scare them. Directly above the survey is a presumably cherry-picked picture of
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Muslims taking part in violent protest. Further research showed the protest is from Laghman

Province in Afghanistan, not from Muslims in America as the writer might want to suggest.

Another article from the right gives an anecdote from Europe. "Man Shows 20 Muslims

Sneaking Onto Property Why Hes Called 'Destroyer'" from Dom the Conservative at Mad World

News is another great example of bias on the right. In the article, she tells of how a man was on

his ATV patrolling his land when he ran into a group of migrants sneaking onto his property.

When discussing immigration policy, Dom writes, "They are unable to screen these people and

unwilling to admit that they are letting in aggressive, terror-tied misogynists." (Dom 1017) This

is another blanket statement and is assuming the intentions of all immigrants. One of the root

causes of immigration are push factors. These displace immigrants from their home country

and could be anything from war to famine to economic disaster. A more fair and balanced

article would consider the reasons immigration exists. As can be seen from the right, the

humanitarian purposes of immigration and everyones want to be comfortable and have basic

needs are not considered.

Centralized, middle of the road sources prove to be more reliable in obtaining the true

information of any case. In their matter of fact way of speaking, the writers at news outlets

such as the BBC or the Associated Press rarely bring opinion into the article. Even from articles

reporting on one incident, rather than immigration entirely, the lack of loaded words and

increase of true statements is evident. Police detain 13 people from Vietnam after M1

'incident' from the BBC reports on a story where 13 immigrants from Vietnam attempted to

jump from a lorry while on the M1 in England. This article represents how the opinion of the

writer rarely comes into view while reading. The story reads, Thirteen people, who presented
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themselves as being from Vietnam, were referred to the Home Office and their cases will now

be progressed according to the immigration rules. (BBC 2017) It would be difficult to come up

with a more plain and factual statement than that. Giving a video from a dashcam, only the

clear, hard facts are presented and with no purpose to persuade the reader. If this were from

the left or right side, every attempt would be used to make a jab depending upon their political

interest. This article focuses on this one incident, rather than the topic of immigration in its

entirety.

In another piece from the BBC, the subject of immigration as a whole is analyzed. It seems

the word immigration usually refers to the U.S. Mexico border. This time, it is in a different

setting. As of recent, Europe has seen an increase of immigration. Many migrants from the

Middle East and Africa find the higher standard of living and a civil society increasingly more

desirable in relation to their home countries. However, John Humphrys of the BBC wanted to

answer the question of how this increase of immigration has affected the United Kingdom.

Immigration: Threat or opportunity? seeks to reveal the views of citizens across the country

on the issue. Interviewing several locals, Humphrys finds that immigration is seen differently

depending on location. A couple of thousand immigrants arriving in London is barely

noticeable. In a small town in Yorkshire or Derbyshire it can be overwhelming, he writes.

(Humphrys 2016) Many have expressed that when immigrants moved into their small town, it

felt like an invasion. Being on such a small scale, the difference is undeniably noticeable. He

goes on to say that the issue arises not from skin color, but from how it will affect our

economic and physical wellbeing: getting our children into a decent school; waiting too long in

the GP surgery; competing for jobs and houses. (Humphrys 2016) As with any population
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increase, there will of course be a need for more services and a greater competition of those

services. The article is refreshing in its open-ended view of immigration. There are no

assumptions, no finger-pointing and certainly no foul language that would hurt the legitimacy

of the reporting.

Immigration is a sensitive subject. Many have fled their home countries to seek out a better

life for not only themselves, but for their children and generations to come. The majority of

them are some of the nicest and most hard-working people one will ever meet. With regard to

immigration into the United States what kind of nation would we be if we did not answer the

door to those in search of a more prosperous life? The land of the free and home the brave

should be a place where all are welcomed, regardless of race. Diversity is essential to success. If

the United States, or any other country for that matter, denies immigrants, then that is a huge

pool of potential that would make this great nation better off. Some may argue that immigrants

are vile and only seek to detract from the country they go to. However, I would say that a

sufficient screening system should be put in place to make sure that those who come here have

no criminal background or history of terrorism. An effective safeguard to prevent more attacks

on US soil must be active and adequate. There should no longer be needless loss of life from

those who exploit the freedoms of one of the greatest nations in the world.

The left and right sides of the aisle have proven to be insufficient and depleted sources of

any objective information on such an important topic such as immigration. The tangible disdain

for each others views demonstrate how the left and right should not be considered as reliable

sources of information. Articles from more centralized sources are what is really going to open

up a true and respectful dialogue regarding immigrants. Only from these sources can we know
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really how the people feel and what is really going on. The news used to be in the trade of

providing accurate, bona fide information in a timely manner. Today, it has become purely

entertainment to serve erroneous headlines to a specific audience. This guarantees the news

outlet a large group of people, usually left or right, and therefore a guarantee of revenue. An

increase of imitation journalism is creating a divide in coming to any sort of answer on

immigration.
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Works Cited

Conservative, Dom The. Man Shows 20 Muslims Sneaking Onto Property Why He's Called

"Destroyer". Mad World News, 26 Oct. 2017, madworldnews.com/20-muslims-

property-destroyer/.

Edwards, Steve. Immigrant Shoots White Guy Because Of 'Racist' Look, Instantly Realizes He

Picked On Wrong White Boy. My Right America, 30 Oct. 2017,

myrightamerica.com/immigrant-shoots-white-guy-racist/.

Humphrys, John. Immigration: Threat or Opportunity? BBC News, BBC, 18 June 2016,

www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36548750.

Police Detain 13 People from Vietnam after M1 'Incident'. BBC News, BBC, 1 Oct. 2017,

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-41455141?intlink_from_url=http

%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Ftopics%2F5784428d-a30a-4091-82f2-

3f4d9b336f75%2Fuk-immigration&link_location=live-reporting-story.
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Steven Rosenfeld / AlterNet. Study Shows American High Schoolers Are Lashing Out in the

Increasingly Racist, Anti-Immigrant Atmosphere Trump Has Created. Alternet,

www.alternet.org/education/trumps-racism-and-bullying-setting-terrible-example-high-

school-students-are-lashing-out.

Taylor, Colin. A Man Just Drove His Car Into A Crowd Of Protesters Outside Of A Republican

Congressman's Office. Verified Politics, 27 Oct. 2017, verifiedpolitics.com/man-just-

drove-car-crowd-protesters-outside-republican-congressmans-office/.