Annotated Bibliography: “Immigration Reform”

Jackie Hoermann-Elliott; TWU FYC Team

75 Annotated Bibliography: “Immigration Reform”

Aimee Gray

Instructor Jennifer Hadley

ENG 1023

11 March 2022

Cover Letter

To begin, the annotated bibliography genre is brand new to junior students. The genre incorporates many previous skills such as paraphrasing, relative knowledge, persuasion, etc. When granted with an influential teacher, students are able to apply their previous skills to future essays such as the annotated bibliography. The primary research genre allowed me to pick scholarly and beneficial sources that supported my argument. I take pride in my passion for writing, along with the efforts of my peers and teachers to push my skills beyond my ideals.

The writer must create a small scope, a small intro about their provided topic. One main struggle? The must for short, concise summaries that effectively prove a point. This is followed by a summarized version of the article, with why and what could have been improved. When beginning my research I went to the AHS library page and scoured Gale and the main hot topics category. I began to use the specialized search to find clearer statements on my argument. This bibliography will essentially be the backbone of the upcoming argumentative essay, as it provides the writer with much statistical and scholarly evidence that supports their proposed opinion. It also gives a good statement of counterargument ideals. I decided on the topic of immigration for many resources. One is my experience as an immigrant in the United States. I feel extremely passionate about the reformation of immigration, as many flaws lie deeply in its roots. Also, with the topic being so relevant and recent, many sources are produced making research less longing than other smaller topics.

After my annotated bibliography, I was able to effectively craft the basis of my argumentative essay. To start, I chose to argue the idea that there is an urgent need for immigration reform in the United States, and many sources were available to support this opinion. I was able to craft and find many positive supporting arguments, all of which proved reliable. Finding counter-arguments proved slightly more difficult than expected. Many contained little evidence, mainly consisting of personal opinion. I also struggled with making the length of my summaries an appropriate length. I tend to overwrite, feeling the need to overanalyze.

With this assignment, later in life, I will be able to plan research papers and understand if my sources are scholarly or not. When venturing into a new genre, it also poses a challenge. However, it’s the approach to its difficulty that is vital. I believe that when faced with this genre I persevered and attempted to implement my past skills to produce the best of my abilities. Below is a combination of scholarly research as to why the United States must adhere to a new immigration system, to allow future migrant success.

Annotated Bibliography: Immigration Reform

ADL. Anti-immigrant arguments against immigration reform. Anti-Defamation League. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/anti-immigrant-arguments-against-immigration-reform

ADL, an organization founded in 1913, which advocates for “ fighting antisemitism and hate,” arranged a series of statements on the opposing position of immigration reform. The statements include many historical document excerpts and bills, along with many personal and statistical authentication, providing the ways and reasonings of the “anti-immigrant” party and as to why it positively impacts Americans. Stemming back from the late 1850s, the anti-immigration party formed a perception that migrants would weaken national security, influx cheap labor, and hurt American workers. The group specifically targets the AFL-CIO, as it is in favor of the immigrant reformation. The anti-immigration movement targets the large business community as it supports the reform ideology, assuming that many migrants do not have the equivalent of high school education. This article efficiently uses short bulleted ideals, many evidential examples to prove that an immigration reform bill would hurt the United States. However, it again lacks the excitement factor, and often the vast majority of evidence consumes much of the personal anecdotes and experiences. This will allow me to counter-argue the need for immigration reform, with effective evidence.

Felter, C., Renwick , D., & Cheatham , A. (2021, August 31). The U.S. Immigration Debate. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-immigration-debate-0

Claire Felter, Danielle Renwick, and Amelia Cheatham closely analyze flaws of modern immigration systems through productive conducted studies via The Council of Foreign Relations, along with their research providing statistics as substantial writers and editors of The Council of Foreign Relations editorials, to educate the reader of the debate amongst the United States immigration. They begin by educating readers of the percentage of foreign-born US residents/ non-residents, being at an all-time high, along with contrasting the populations of illegals and court backlog cases. Many questions are proposed such as, “How do Americans feel about immigration?” And “How has Congress addressed these issues?” Each is answered with credible sources from company editorials. The article highlights the failed Congressional attempts to agree on the policy of immigration, and how to approach the recent influx of migrants. With this said, each author heavily relates to their retrieved studies, while not many external opinions are shown. To improve this article, establishing greater credible sources and lessening biased opinions could make it more established. This article will allow me to state facts and credible statistics on the historical issue rooted in US immigration, and ways in which it must be improved.

Foster LLP. (2019, July 26). The dehumanizing history of the words we’ve used to describe immigrants. Foster Global. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.fosterglobal.com/blog/the-dehumanizing-history-of-the-words-weve-used-to-describe-immigrants/

Foster LLP, an immigration law firm in Texas, crafted an article shedding light on the dehumanization language and treatment of immigrants stemming from history; this is proven through evidence of many scholarly quotes, historical documents, and personal campaigns. The term “alien” has been used to describe migrant workers from as early as 1798, as seen in the Alien and Sedition Acts. This term. along with “illegal” as history fades, seems to receive itself along with its derogatory approach towards immigrants. In an attempt to diminish the language used, terms such as “undocumented” or “ unnaturalized” are replacing the more derogatory terms. Advocates began crafting campaigns such as “Word’s Matter” and “ Drop the L-Word” to shed light on press representatives and their arrogance towards such topics. This article could perhaps lessen the incorporation of outside sources, while this does effectively boost their argument, it can quickly become overwhelming. To further improve including bullets, images, and other visual rhetorics would greatly improve its readability. This article will expand my argument of the negative connotation of branding on immigrant lives, along with ways in which it contributes to the reform ideas.

Gelatt, J. (2019, July 2). Explainer: How the U.S. Legal Immigration System Works. migrationpolicy.org. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/explainer-how-us-legal-immigration-system-works

Julia Gelatt, a superior Ph.D. Stratagem Analytics specialist with the U.S. Immigration Policy Program. enlightens her readers of the basics orderings of the United States legal immigration system. This is effectively taught by providing statistical images, bulleted lists of immigration steps, along with providing outside research. As the article commences, Gelatt introduces how Green Cards are obtained for migrants, including family, humanitarian, employment, and others. Upon applying for Green Cards, caps were often used from the early 1960s, only allowing a certain number of migrants per category. Via the Immigration Act of 1990, the US imposes the number of green cards granted to a country per year, meaning, “no country can receive more than 7 percent of the total number of employment-based and family-sponsored preference visas in a given year.” She quickly touches on the ways of non-permanent residency, explaining the six visa types: H-1B “specialty occupation,” H-2A “foreign agricultural,” H-2B “temporal jobs,” L “branch workers,” O “extraordinary ability,” and finally TN “ North American Free Trade Agreement.” While this article provided extraordinary information for the basics of immigration, it lacked the entertainment factor. Yes, articles are used for informing and bettering knowledge: they should also involve an exciting and engaging factor as well. This article will be perfect for equipping my audience with the basics of immigration.

Johnson, K., Kane, T. (2006, March 1). The real problem with immigration … and the real solution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://www.heritage.org/immigration/report/the-real-problem-immigration-and-the-real-solution

Kirk Johnson, a Ph.D. holder in Anglo-American relations and immigration, along with Tim Kane, a leader at the Hoover Institution and Stanford University, specializing in national security and immigration, address the nation’s directions towards immigration, through analytic studies, and professional evidence, announcing the “real problem” and “real solution” of immigration. Beginning, they recognize the main flaw in immigration being security rather than economic fright. This is followed by excerpts of evidence from The Wall Street Journal, Economic report of the President (ERP), and many other sources. It is prominent that immigrant workers are seen as a threat when in reality many boost economic success and thrive in the United States. The solution to this security problem? Johnson and Kane provide a 14-step economic principle. Examples include guest workers being identified biometrically, along with U.S. companies making an incentive for migrant work, and the list furthers. While this article provided incredible work for my study, it lacked much personal research or credibility. To improve perhaps simpler language and lessening the constant evidence could make it more compilable. This article will allow my perception of immigration reform to be more accurately supported, along with benefitting my evidence and reasoning sections.

What immigration reform should look like. The Heritage Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.heritage.org/immigration/heritage-explains/what-immigration-reform-should-look

The Heritage Foundation, created during the beginning of the presidency of Ronald Reagan, is a foundation based on the promotion of public policies, including the principles of free enterprise, immigration reformation, individual freedom, and more. The message promoted states that a debate whether immigration is needed is false; it’s simply about doing it in an equal process to “protect American sovereignty, respect the law, and benefit all [persons],” as seen through video clips and personal experiences. The report starts by mentioning the importance of immigration to the American ecosystem and economic benefit, quickly contrasting it with the toxic policy often fought over in politics. The Heritage Foundation provides four resolving principles to solve the proposed problem. The first is, to respect the consent of the governed. The second is to not interfere with national security and the safety of the public, leading to the third principle: “becoming a citizen means becoming an American, and to preserve patriotic assimilation.” The final adopts a Merit-Based immigrant system. To further improve this piece, greater incorporation of scholarly evidence or examples would boost its credibility. However, they efficiently and appropriately used correct language to simply prove their point. This will be used to give reason for immigration reform, along with knowledge behind each principle.

Works Cited