Post by elsulmo38 on Nov 16, 2011 19:42:26 GMT -5
Modern Day Puritans
Illegal immigration is a controversial issue in America and every year laws are proposed about this topic with different opinions on how to handle it. Illegal immigrants have a dream of creating a better life for themselves and future generations, this can be completed through three tenets. According to Bercovitch these tenets include, migration, discipline, and progress. These tenets were originally and successfully used by the Puritans, immigrants of colonial America. Once the migration is completed by illegal immigrants, the tenets of discipline and progress are directly affected by the laws whether supporting these tenets or inhibiting them. The California Dream Act and H.B. 36 bill from Alabama, show a positive and negative effect on the discipline and progress of illegal immigrants in America when they are pursuing the completion of their errand.
On October 10, 2011, Governor Brown of California passed the California Dream Act, enabling illegal immigrants to apply to states public university as residents, allowing them a reduced tuition rate and eligibility for state scholarships and financial aid. However, to be eligible for this, one has to have graduated high school in California and prove that they are trying to become legal (Ruiz). Immediately, one sees the positive effect it has on the completion of the three tenets. It provides motivation for discipline through the requirements, by requiring integration into American society. A reward for this discipline, a discounted price on education, is given. This reward is progress; it allows immigrants to get a degree affordably with opportunities for an improved life, leading to the completion of their errand. The California Dream Act facilitates the discipline and progress of illegal immigrants after their migration, by allowing them to reach a higher education through requirements that promote discipline.
While one sees tolerance in California’s Dream Act, the opposite is seen in Alabama’s severe H.B. 36 passed in June of 2011. This bill includes barring illegal immigrants from going to public college, the requirement of public schools to report immigration status of students, making renting a house to an illegal immigrant a crime, and requiring employers to verify the legal status of workers (Preston). Without discipline one cannot reach progress and this law inhibits the discipline of illegal immigrants. It makes finding a home and job almost impossible for illegal immigrants, impeding their ability to integrate into American society and to create a correct lifestyle. Not to mention, it creates fear of sending their children to school, due to the possibility of being reported and deported. If their children cannot be educated, progress cannot be made, because it is hard to move up society without an education. Without discipline and progress, their dream of a better life will go unfulfilled. The Alabama’s H.B. 36 creates fear of finding discipline and constrains illegal immigrants from forming a right life in America, hindering on their quest for progress and ultimately their errand.
Through these laws, one sees how much the American opinion of illegal immigration varies from staunch intolerance to lenient understanding. Depending on what one believes in this topic determines how one wants to affect the tenets of migration. Whether it was a harmful environment or helpful Native Americans, the Puritans also faced a variety of factors affecting their errand, similar to the laws affecting illegal immigrants. The tenets of the Puritan errand are alive today through illegal immigration into America and the factors affecting it in the form of laws.
word count: 574
Works Cited
Preston, Julia. "In Alabama, a Harsh Bill for Residents Here Illegally." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 3 June 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/04immig.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hB%2056&st=cse>.
Ruiz, Rebecca R. "Dream Act Becomes Law in California." The Choice. The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/dream-act/>.
Illegal immigration is a controversial issue in America and every year laws are proposed about this topic with different opinions on how to handle it. Illegal immigrants have a dream of creating a better life for themselves and future generations, this can be completed through three tenets. According to Bercovitch these tenets include, migration, discipline, and progress. These tenets were originally and successfully used by the Puritans, immigrants of colonial America. Once the migration is completed by illegal immigrants, the tenets of discipline and progress are directly affected by the laws whether supporting these tenets or inhibiting them. The California Dream Act and H.B. 36 bill from Alabama, show a positive and negative effect on the discipline and progress of illegal immigrants in America when they are pursuing the completion of their errand.
On October 10, 2011, Governor Brown of California passed the California Dream Act, enabling illegal immigrants to apply to states public university as residents, allowing them a reduced tuition rate and eligibility for state scholarships and financial aid. However, to be eligible for this, one has to have graduated high school in California and prove that they are trying to become legal (Ruiz). Immediately, one sees the positive effect it has on the completion of the three tenets. It provides motivation for discipline through the requirements, by requiring integration into American society. A reward for this discipline, a discounted price on education, is given. This reward is progress; it allows immigrants to get a degree affordably with opportunities for an improved life, leading to the completion of their errand. The California Dream Act facilitates the discipline and progress of illegal immigrants after their migration, by allowing them to reach a higher education through requirements that promote discipline.
While one sees tolerance in California’s Dream Act, the opposite is seen in Alabama’s severe H.B. 36 passed in June of 2011. This bill includes barring illegal immigrants from going to public college, the requirement of public schools to report immigration status of students, making renting a house to an illegal immigrant a crime, and requiring employers to verify the legal status of workers (Preston). Without discipline one cannot reach progress and this law inhibits the discipline of illegal immigrants. It makes finding a home and job almost impossible for illegal immigrants, impeding their ability to integrate into American society and to create a correct lifestyle. Not to mention, it creates fear of sending their children to school, due to the possibility of being reported and deported. If their children cannot be educated, progress cannot be made, because it is hard to move up society without an education. Without discipline and progress, their dream of a better life will go unfulfilled. The Alabama’s H.B. 36 creates fear of finding discipline and constrains illegal immigrants from forming a right life in America, hindering on their quest for progress and ultimately their errand.
Through these laws, one sees how much the American opinion of illegal immigration varies from staunch intolerance to lenient understanding. Depending on what one believes in this topic determines how one wants to affect the tenets of migration. Whether it was a harmful environment or helpful Native Americans, the Puritans also faced a variety of factors affecting their errand, similar to the laws affecting illegal immigrants. The tenets of the Puritan errand are alive today through illegal immigration into America and the factors affecting it in the form of laws.
word count: 574
Works Cited
Preston, Julia. "In Alabama, a Harsh Bill for Residents Here Illegally." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 3 June 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/04immig.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hB%2056&st=cse>.
Ruiz, Rebecca R. "Dream Act Becomes Law in California." The Choice. The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. <http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/dream-act/>.