As we know, there is a major conflict in the United States over illegal immigration.  12 million illegal immigrants are living in the country; 500,000 illegal immigrants enter the country each year.  Many of these undocumented residents enjoy the some of the privileges and have the some of the same responsibilities that citizens do.  Over 4.5 million children of illegal immigrants are in U.S. public schools.  All immigrants (legal and illegal) are required to pay taxes – including sales, income, and property taxes.  Yet illegal immigrants are not granted some of the basic rights and benefits that U.S. citizens have – the right to vote, to serve in the military, to apply for a college scholarship, to apply for welfare, etc.

Do you think that immigrant rights are a civil rights issue?

Immigration Stories from the NY Times (read at least two different stories): http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/share-your-immigration-story/

On Election Day 2008, California voters passed a law called Proposition 8, which changed the state constitution to say that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”  Previously, same-sex couples had been granted the right to marry in California.  Currently, only two states, Connecticut and Massachusetts have legalized same-sex marriage.  Some other states recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships, but refuse to allow same-sex couples to “marry.”

Do you think that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue?

ARTICLES:
“One year later, nation divided on gay marriage”: http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gay_marriage/articles/2005/05/15/one_year_later_nation_divided_on_gay_marriage/

NY Times “Same-Sex Marriage News” (read the article under the photo on the main page): http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/same_sex_marriage/index.html

1)   Go to www.un.org

2)   Click on “Welcome” to go to the English Language homepage

3)   Click on “Member States”

4)   Look for “Permanent Missions” on the left. Click on “Homepages” under “New York”

5)   Look for your country’s name in the list and click on it

6)   Add this to your favorites

7)   Look for a search box and type in your key terms (i.e. ‘animals,’ ‘medication,’ ‘water,’ ‘nuclear,’ ‘development,’ ‘food,’ ‘children,’ etc.)

http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=457141

http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=458799

Try to find as much information on your country as you can!

Your research is due at the end of class on Friday.  Please email it to ufuller@ms131.org as a WORD attachment.

Also, if you are representing Myanmar, please remember that it is often called Burma.

Perspectives on Immigration: Republicans

• Security and at entry points to the U.S. (borders, airports, etc.) must be strong. The U.S. should have lots of Border Patrol agents, security cameras, and aircrafts monitoring the borders.
• The U.S. should have a strong system that keeps a record of who enters and exits the country (at airports, border stations, sea ports, etc.) and when these people enter and exit.
• Amnesty (forgiving illegal immigrants and giving them a way to become legal residents/citizens) just encourages illegal immigration.
• People who employ illegal immigrants should face tough penalties.
• Spouses and children of legal residents/citizens should have priority for immigration.
• There should be an increase in the number of visas given for high-tech workers and for temporary agricultural workers (aka guest workers).
• Immigrants should be encouraged to learn English.
• English should be the official language of the United States.
• The U.S. should welcome political refugees (people forced from their home countries based on political factors/violence).

Perspectives on Immigration: Democrats

• The U.S. should provide a way for undocumented (illegal) immigrants to become citizens.
• We should work to make sure immigrant families are not separated and to try to reunite families that have already been separated by immigration laws.
• The United States should offer more English-language and civic education classes so immigrants can take on all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
• Funding should be provided for the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) to help with processing of citizenship applications and other immigration paperwork.
• Immigrants should be protected from employers who want to use them as a source of cheap labor.
• Guest worker programs would lead to unfair treatment of immigrant workers and would create a new group of second-class workers, betraying our values and hurting all people.
• Immigrants should have the right to due process in court instead of automatically being deported for minor offenses.
• Illegal immigrants within our borders who clear a background check, work hard and pay taxes should have a path to earn full participation in America (amnesty.)
• We should work with our neighboring countries to make sure that America is safe from those that would come here to harm us.

Step 1:  go to www.senate.gov

Step 2: go to the upper right hand corner and look for the box that says “Find Your Senator“.  Click on the arrows and scroll down to the state where your Senator is from.  Click on that state’s name and then press “GO”.

Step 3:  There should be 2 Senators listed after you find your state.  One of those Senators should be the one you are looking for.  Click on that Senator’s name to go to their personal website.

Step 4:  The Senator’s websites are all different so it is important to look carefully at your specific site.  Look over the entire first page of your Senator’s site.  There will be many things that you probably understand but don’t let that discourage you.  Try to get an idea of what the site has to offer.

Step 5: Read the background information of your Senator.  The link to get this info may be listed as:  [Bio] or [Biography] or [About (your Senator's Name)] any of these 3 will give you the correct information.  Make sure to remember whether your Senator is a Republican or Democrat.  If you have already done this step skip to step 6.

Step 6: What you should be most interested in is your Senator’s position on Immigration.  Look for a link on the first page that says [On the issues] or [Issues] or [Issues and Legislation].   Click on that button and you will normally be given a choice of various topics.  Look for the word [Immigration] and click on it.

Step 7 (optional):  If you still cannot find anything about immigration then look for a blank space that has the word Search or Search this Site.   This will normally be at the top but may also be at the bottom of a Senator’s first page.  In the blank space type the word Immigration and then go to step 8.  If you still cannot find anything about immigration than ask one of the teachers.

Step 8 (part A):  Now the real work begins.  When you get to the section on Immigration there may be another list of issues.  For example it may say “Border Security” or “HIV and Immigrants” or “Illegal Immigrants.”  Your job is to read through all this material and take notes on your Graphic Organizer. Remember that all the issues that we have talked about in class may not be on your Senator’s website.  But that is OK because it means that your Senator cares most about what he talks about on his site.  [For example: Saxby Chambliss talks mostly about Border Security.  Therefore, the person playing Saxby should care most about Border Security when they prepare their speech outline.]

Some Senators will not list any topics.  They just have a statement about immigration in general.  That is OK those statements are still full of information.

(Part B):  Once you have read and taken notes on the immigration issues that are listed, you may be able to click on other links.  Some Senators have links to their voting records and some Senators have links to press releases or newspaper articles that discuss them and the issue of immigration.  These links are great for additional information but can be very confusing.  DO NOT worry about these links or spend lots of time trying to figure them out if they do not make sense.

Step 9:  If you have tried all these instructions and are still confused.  ASK FOR HELP.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm