experience event. It involved a film directed by Luis
Argueta which documented an immigration raid that
took place in Postville, Iowa this past year. There,
police authorities captured hundreds of illegal
immigrants working in a factory, most of which were
of Guatemalan decent. As a result, these people were
either sent back to their country or forced to remain
in the US and wear a GPS device around their ankle
that could not be removed.
It was absolutely devastating to hear the immigrants'
reaction towards the raid. While many may believe
justice was served by the raid, it certainly was not.
Many of the immigrants that got caught were
interviewed in the film, and revealed the horrible
situations that they were in. Even while working at
the factory, the immigrants were treated in horrendous
ways whether due to the dangerous conditions,
extremely long hours, little or no pay, or their age.
Some of the immigrants were no older than fourteen!
Not to mention, when they were caught, many of the
family members were separated and till this day have
not been able to see their loved ones.
This film lead me to think about my view towards
immigrants. I was so appalled to see how these
victims were treated when ultimately, they were just
trying to make a better life for their families and
themselves. In some situations parents were able to
leave their children behind if they were born in the
US, in hopes that maybe their children would have a
better life. I cannot begin to imagine how hard that
must have been. One thing I found interesting was the
fact that there are only a few thousand visas available
for immigrants worldwide to work in the US. I was so
surprised because in my opinion, that definitely does
provide enough opportunity for the rest of world.
Unless we do something to increase jobs in other
countries, I think America should rethink their
immigration laws and solve this problem, because
something needs to be done.
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