Blog Post 5

Throughout history, immigration has played a key role in the establishment and development of the United States of America. Nicknamed “a melting pot”, the USA takes pride in its cultural diversity and endless opportunity. But, as time has gone by, attitudes towards immigrants have shifted from welcoming to threatening. In April of 2010, a law was signed in Arizona with the idea of discouraging illegal-immigration. Although the intent of the law could have been positive, many negative effects came from it. Other similar laws were passed throughout other states, including Indiana, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama. These laws sparked fear and panic throughout the immigrant communities in America, which then began the modern immigrants’ rights movement. Although many of the provisions of the anti-illegal-immigration laws were declared unconstitutional, untrusting and unaccepting attitudes had already formed towards the immigrant population.

These laws had become very strict about already existing in America illegally, and at the same time, the process to live legally was not getting any easier. Many children who were illegally brought to the US at a young age grew up in America, and have almost completely adapted to consider themselves Americans. Many of these people now have tax-paying jobs, and play a key role in American society, and have established relationships within their communities that cannot be replaced. After the strict laws were put into place, these innocent and established immigrants began to take action. I will analyze the actions of a specific group of young adults, the National Immigrant Youth Alliance. In 2012, after most of the harsh laws were enacted, a group of young undocumented immigrants decided that they would purposefully turn themselves in to law enforcement in order to fill up the deportation detention centers. I will analyze this act of protest rhetorically. The NIYA puts out vlog-style videos of the young adults in the detention centers, portraying that they have already mobilized for action. This collection of videos is called the “Bring Them Home” campaign and can be found on the NIYA YouTube channel. The “Bring Them Home” videos use rhetorical strategies to transform perceptions of social reality, legitimize the social movement, and mobilize for action, all of which I will discuss further in the analysis.