Integrating a Quote

 This post outlines a quote that I chose from my annotated bibliography and that I will integrate into my Immigration Reform QRG. 

"Quote of the Day Love." January 16, 2015 via 99Quanai.com. Public.

 

 

 

 
The blues represent the signal phrases,where I introduced the authors of the journal article along with the publication date.  The green portion is the actual quote where I use quotation marks to demonstrate where the quote begins and where it ends.

Draft of Quick Reference Guide

Ammcurious. "Tired Frenchie is tired." 2012 via imgur. Public. 

Hello Everyone,
Now that I have exhausted my brain for today, I realized that my QRG might be a bit overwhelming at first so thank you to those who do look over it. The topic itself is very substantial but I wanted to break it down into more manageable sections. I would appreciate any feedback on whether or not there is an overload of information and if it is arranged in an-easy-to-read and engaging manner. Also, please point out if some arguments are stronger than others (I'm hoping to be as balanced as possible). I will continue on making it more visually appealing since I think it's lagging in that area.
Any feedback on the doc is appreciated. Thanks!

QRGs: the Genre

After browsing over quick reference guides, it became clear that your genre dictates how that information will be shared. All five of the QRG's that I explored to a different and tailored approach based on numerous aspects I will expand on shortly. 

What do the conventions of this genre - the Quick Reference Guide - seem to be?

Most genres have particular elements that are conventional. Conventions help influence how we interpret the information that is being presented so based on the genre we will have different expectations and take-aways. The stem cell QRG is a science-based analysis of stem cells and therefore more visuals were necessary. The other four QRG's presented their information with more words, less images and a distinct format and design. Typically, the hard science info-graphs and texts are usually partnered with many figures and diagrams that complement the text. Reversely, other genres rely much more on text than images. 

How are those conventions defined by the author's formatting and design choices?

As the main distributor and manager of their project, the author(s) know what convention best describe their genre and what their end goal is. Based off of this information, they are able to format and design in order to appeal to their intended audience and get their purpose across. For example, David Graham's "The 2016 U.S Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet" is formatted much differently than the "Stem Cell Quick Reference." This is not a coincidence but rather a strategic tool. Individuals reading Graham's articles do not need a lump of presidential candidate photos or diagrams because that would not be very helpful to them. What the author is attempting to do is present the information is a very logical and organized manner so it is appealing to the intended audience. Similarly, "Stem Cell Quick Reference" would not be a fun read if all we had were sub-headers and short paragraphs of information. The conventions that have been established over time serve as a template for author's to use because each genre and piece of writing in a specific field doesn't usually transcend audiences. 

What does the purpose of these QRG's seem to be?

The purpose of these QRG's seems to be to present information in a concise and engaging manner based on the intended audience. 

Who is the intended audience for these different QRG's? Are they all intended for similar audiences? Or different? How and Why? 

The intended audiences for each of the QRG's is very different and therefore the way the information is presented is directly affected. The Sochi Olympic Opening Ceremony piece is intended for an audience that appreciates information in many different formats (text, images, popular culture references). The information in this QRG walks you through questions the audience might have and answers to those questions. Essentially it serves as almost a conversation which in my opinion makes it an easy read. The QRG on Puerto Rico's debt crisis presents the information in a very specific style. All 11 facts are presented in an almost independent manner so if you were to skip from fact #1 to fact #5 you would not be at a complete loss. The topic of the debt crisis lends itself well to a number list because it incorporates important numbers figures as well as more traditional communication tools (interview quotes). 

Overall, QRG's are a great way to present information that is easy to read, concise, visually-appealing and informative. 

Example of a QRG that uses both images and figures. U.S Department of Agriculture Administration. "Childhood Hunger in America infograph." March 5, 2015 via Flickr. Public Domain. 

Update: After reading my classmates posts (Tripp, Jason, Erick) and commenting on their take QRGs, I can say that I gained a new perspective on the guides. I think that what stood out the most what how important the presentation and design of the QRGs were. It became clear that the author's headlines, listing systems, and overall presentation were meant to engage the audience and give them a run-down of lots of vital information in a non-complex way. Since my topic is quite complex, I will try to place more emphasis on the layout so that it is more engaging and appealing to my intended audience.

Cluster of Immigration Reform Controversy

As part of my early writing process for my class project, I will be sharing a cluster of ideas on the topic of immigration reform and its controversial nature. The process of deciding what to write before actually beginning to is a really important step and helps us invent and brainstorm ideas. Invention can happen anywhere and can be created in many different forms. For this blog post, I was tasked with creating and briefly explaining my cluster (aka web). Please click on the link for a better view!

http://popplet.com/app/#/2585269

I started off my cluster with the main theme I wanted to address; immigration reform. Since there are many subcategories and topics within this theme, I attempted to break-it-down based on who were the main figures and what role they play in the overall debate. Since I believe that governmental branches are the ones who currently hold leverage on this issue, I decided to focus on them and what PRO and CON arguments they pose. Both groups of key actors (gov't branches & anti/pro immigration orgs or individuals) use the same types of public speech acts which is one of the only links between them.

Annotated Bibliography in MLA

Annotated Bibliography in MLA

Blake, Eben. "Immigration Reform 2015: Undocumented Immigrants Should be Deported Quickly, New Senate Bill Claims." International Business Time. 15 July 2015. Online. 

This article talks about the new bill that Sen. McCain and Sen. Flake (both of Arizona) introduced to tackle the issue of what to do with undocumented criminals. Under this bill, undocumented immigrants arrested for serious crimes or convicted undocumented criminals would be deported within a 90 day time frame. Blake included information from the Department of Homeland Security presenting their viewpoint on the introduction of the bill. I will incorporate this source when talking about what current legislative activity is being brought forth and the reasons why these types of bills move very slowly. 

Hincpaie, Marielena and Janet Murguia. "Undermining Immigration Reform with High Costs." Politico. 23 June 2013. 

According to Hincapie and Murguia, the goal of immigratin reform is to make our current immigration system more rational, accountable and workable. Their belief is that the current Senate bill that passed in 2014 already places enough constraints on immigrants that additional hurdles would be more detrimental to the process. This article will be useful when covering the topic of the benefits of allowing a pathway to citizenship for current undocumented immigrants. As the authors have mentioned, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions.

Pedroza, Juan Manuel. "Removal Roulette: Secure Communities and Immigration Enforcement in the United States (2008–2012)." (2013): 77-97. Springer. Web. <http://link.springer.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/book/10.1007/978-1-4614-6648-2>.

Pedroza suggests that immigrants may face an uneven immigration enforcement landscape under SComm (a National database for detained undocumented immigrants). Pedroza concludes that since immigrants are not distributed evenly across the country, the vast majority of removals stem from a relatively small number of states. Additionally, high-risk criminals are placed in the same removal processing category as low-risk offenders. This affects the potential for those who are good candidates for immigration reform versus those who are not. I will attempt to use this source to cover how the deportation process can many times be inefficient and overwhelming. When the only crime an undocumented immigrant committed was entering the country illegally and they are placed in the same process as a high-risk repeat offender, something needs to be addressed. I plan to use this source to differentiate between those who are actual criminals and those who are not and what those figures look like.

Rocha, Rene R., Daniel P. Hawes, Alisa Hicklin Fryar, and Robert D. Wrinkle. "Policy Climates, Enforcement Rates, and Migrant Behavior: Is Self-Deportation a Viable Immigration Policy?" The Policy Studies Journal 42.01: 79-100. Web. 17 July 2015. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/doi/10.1111/psj.12043/pdf>.

The following source argues that contrary to what most policymakers thinks, increasing the enforcement of harsh immigration laws and detaining undocumented immigrants does not in fact change their behaviors. Undocumented immigrants are not deterred from attempting illegal re-entry into the country. A survey of 210 undocumented immigrants was conducted as part of this research from border and non-border cities in the U.S. Their data was collected by the authors to come to the conclusion that self-deportation is not a viable policy option. This source will be useful when speaking about proponents of self-deportation because it disproves their argument. 

Rogers, David. "At Stake in the Immigration Debate: Billions of Dollars." Politico. 10 Feb. 2015. Online.

Rogers presents a budgetary analysis of what it would mean to deport the 11+ million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. According to Rogers, the budget constraints that the Republican party has already placed on the Obama Administration could also hinder their ability to force individuals out of the country. I believe that this article will be helpful because it presents factual figures on the cost of deporting a single individual and larger quantities. The intended audience is more likely individuals very familiar with immigration affairs. Rogers also uses quotes from high level officials involved with this issue.  I plan on using this source because it has very striking figures that can be used to speak on the impossibility of deporting all the undocumented immigrants.

Additional Sources

Dickerson, John. "The Death of Immigration Reform Is Also the Death of Obama’s Restrained Leadership Experiment."Slate.com. 1 July 2014. Web. 17 July 2015. <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/07/immigration_reform_is_dead_what_are_obama_s_options_now.html>.

In this article, Dickerson claims that there are two main reasons why immigration reform seems unlikely to pass during President Obama’s administration. Dickerson believes that disagreements on how to move immigration reform forward without compromising border security and the Republican Party’s infighting is one reason for the inaction. The second reason is that Republicans will attempt to block anything that President Obama moves forward because they do not believe he has been good at enforcing current immigration laws. The major outcome from this article is to highlight how tense this topic is and how unlikely things will move forward when a divided government. I plan to use this source to speak on how the two sides of the issue are not willing to cave in to the other and essentially how this topic has stagnated.

Gonzales, Ricardo. "Judge's Decision Complicates Matters For Unauthorized Immigrants." NPR. NPR, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 17 July 2015.

Gonzales summarizes the latest installment in the immigration debacle. A Federal judge in Texas issued a temporary injunction stalling the President’s executive action. This injunction leaves many individuals who felt that they would qualify under his executive action in limbo mode. Gonzales was able to include interview excerpts from immigration organizations that have begun to help people fill out the paperwork. I plan to incorporate this article to talk about the latest development on this issue at the very beginning of the project.

Lovelace, Ryan. "USCIS Is Already Processing 7 Million Immigration-Related Requests Annually-Before Obama's Amnesty."National Review Online. 3 Mar. 2015. Web. 17 July 2015. <http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/414779/uscis-already-processing-7-million-immigration-related-requests-annually-obamas>.

The purpose of the following source is to explain how the current processing of immigration documents under the jurisdiction of the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services is at an overwhelming level as is. The intended audience is those individuals who want to better understand the immigration naturalizations and residency process. The information collected was through a USCIS official, Mr. Donald Neufeld, who testified in front of a Congressional committee. The major observation in this article is the fact that under President Obama’s executive actions, USCIS would be even more backlogged because they would have to process potentially millions of applications. I will use this article to speak on the logistical problems that come with any type of action on immigration reform.

Riley, Jason. “The Mythical Connection between Immigrants and Crime.” The Wall Street Journal 14 July 2015. The Wall Street Journal. 17 July 2015. < http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mythical-connection-between-immigrants-and-crime-1436916798>.

Riley’s purpose is to demonstrate that immigrants are not more disposed to crime. I believe that his main audience is people who do believe that undocumented criminals are more likely to be criminals than legal immigrants. Riley supports his argument by citing previous independent studies on this issue. The major observation is that immigrants—regardless of nationality or legal status—are less likely than the native population to commit violent crimes or to be incarcerated. I plan to use this when talking about the misconception that immigrants are more likely to engage in criminal activities. 

Ideology in my Controversy

The following post will incorporate many of the things I have learned while learning about how to address the issue of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

Who is involved in this controversy?
It's safe to say that most of us (the general American public) are in some way or another invested in this debate. As a nation of over 300 million people, many of us come from immigrant backgrounds. So even though we are all involved in some direct or indirect manner with this controversy, I would have to narrow down the true contenders to four broader categories; those who are opposed to immigration reform, those in favor of, the undocumented, and the general public. From within those four categories, each contains a variety of people from different backgrounds. For example, there are pro-immigration reform organizations, pro-immigration reform policymakers, pro-immigration general advocates and similarly anti-immigration reform organizations, anti-immigration reform policymakers, and anti-immigration reform advocates.  In my opinion, the more powerful people within those categories tend to be policymakers (since they already have  name recognition and some form of credibility and an established platform) and organizations because they have the resources to mobilize the masses through different means.

Who are some of the major actors within this controversy?
Once again, I would have to say that policymakers across the country are the major actors in the immigration reform debate. They are the ones who hold the mechanisms and ability to enforce or impose new laws that can address the issue. They have the means to communicate with the general public through interviews, press conferences, social media, etc. For me, the policymakers that are the head of these movements are the following; Sen, Flake (R-AZ), Sen, McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Schumer  (D-NY), Sen. Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Graham (R-SC), Sen. Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Menendez (D-NJ), Sen. Bennet (D-CO). There are also other Congressional Representatives that are important figures in this debate like Rep. Gutierrez (D-IL) and Speaker of the House Rep. Boehner (R-OH). Now that the 2016 presidential elections are well underway, more political leaders will be part of this conversation so undoubtedly figures like Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush among others will be at the forefront of this conversation.
At the other end, there are a lot of organizations that have led strong campaigns either in favor of immigration reform or against. The advantage they have over policymakers is numbers in people. These organizations like America's Voice and Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) are able to capitalize on a large following. They have been able to use their resources to pressure policymakers based on their distinct end goals. There are three important forms of power that give them leverage over policymakers; voting for lawmakers, being able to donate to lawmakers/orgs, and people resources.

What does each group value?
Those in favor of immigration reform value the contributions that immigrants (both documented and undocumented) have been able to provide for our country. They value the idea of opportunity and safety. Those who are opposed to immigration reform value the rule of the land. They value American values like justice.

Is there a power differential?
Yes, this is a controversial issue that can only really be address through one of the three branches in our government. Therefore, policymakers are the ones who currently hold the leverage on moving or blocking immigration reform attempts.

Is there a common ground or consensus on this topic?
Not necessarily. I believe that the common ground for this topic is that something needs to be done. Letting the issue accumulate more time will only make the situation worse and more difficult for a consensus  agreement to take place.

Do the various groups listen to each other?
On the surface, I believe the answer is yes. It's much easier to claim to listen to each other but that does not guarantee that listening will turn into action. I can listen to you present your side but if I am already convinced that you are wrong and I am right, not much will change. I think this is the general feeling regarding this topic." A "We can agree to disagree" mentality which unfortunately can become counterproductive.

Now that I have done more research on this topic, the breadth and complexity of addressing this issue has become even more clear. Immigration will continue to be a highly contested topic for many years to come.

FSP Vintage Collection. "A vintage photo of the United States Capitol building in Washington DC." Via Free Stock Photos. Public Domain

Evaluation of Social Media Sources

Ben-Avraham, Yoel. "SocialMediaiconcollage." Septemember 13, 2013 via Flickr. CCPL.

Source 1

Mariaelena Hincapie tweeted on the concept of self-deportation and the popularity this approach has taken on with the Republican party. She is a credible source because she is the Executive Director for the National Immigration Law Center based in Washington D.C.. Looking through her past and present posts, it becomes clear that immigration is a topic she is passionate about. As Executive Director, she is very much involved with this topic and seems to collaborate with other pro-immigration reform organizations like America's Voice. She joined in Jan. of 2013 but has over 4,400 tweets and more than 1,500 followers. I would say that this source is not reliable because it is very bias. Her organization is very pro-immigration reform so I do not believe that she can present information in a non-bias manner. I do believe she is credible because of her position within the organization but that does not translate into reliability.

Source 2
Interestingly enough, the second source I was drawn to was a shared FB article on Politico titled, "Undermining immigration reform with high costs". This was an op-ed piece with the two contributors being once again, Mariaelena Hincapie and Janer Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza. Once again, both women I would consider to be credible sources because they head national organizations at the forefront of pushing for immigration reform.These organizations are well followed on FB and Twitter where they have 60k likes on FB and 54k followers on Twitter. Both women are very active on their social media platforms as are their respective organizations.