Hispanic/Latino Immigration

Pro-Immigration Website - http://latinospro.org/

I have chosen this as my pro-immigration website for Hispanic/Latino's as they aim to fight for the rights of these people through the legal system by laws and bills. They are primarily based in Chicago, and help to create  policies to help improve quality of life for Hispanic and Latino people within the area. They aim to use the community and means of education to improve the lives of the Hispanic and Latino community, and to fight the segregation from this community and others in the area. 

There are some key programmes they have developed in aiding Hispanic's and Latino's. The first of which is a VAWA, which stands for Violence Against Women Act, which advocates that those who have been victims of domestic violence can be entitled to immigrate into the United States in order to live free from violence and fear. Another programme is for immigrants to be able to bring their families into the country with them, so they can be together and reunited. 

However, this website is not without it's criticisms. To gain help from this organisation in legal matters, you have to be prepared to pay a fee, as you would if you were looking for legal assistance elsewhere. This therefore suggests that this is not so much a charity, but a company, despite using volunteers. Therefore, although it is pro-immigration, it would suggest that it is only for those who can afford it. However, this organisation does help to create a good sense of community within Chicago for Hispanic and Latino immigrants, especially through the use of community projects. 

Anti-Immigration Website - http://minutemanproject.com/

The Minuteman Project is composed of a group of people, who operate within the law to support the enforcement of the law. They advertise themselves as being "multi-ethnic" in their mission statement, in order to avoid being called racist. Founder of this project, Jim Gilchrist, is a veteran of the U.S Marine Corps, which draws on the national pride of the forces, and is a keen republican. He claims to have set up the project as a result of frustrated efforts to get the government to enforce existing immigration laws. 

The Minutemen can often be seen patrolling the border between the US and Mexico, as a deterrent to those who may be immigrating through the border. They are completely opposed to the idea of aiding illegal immigrants by providing them water, and there have been reports and claims that they have been violent towards illegal immigrants crossing the border. 

One thing I found humorous about this website was the link to donate money to this project, with suggestions up to $5000! The website doesn't really seem to put across a good argument, it seems to mainly be helping people to identify how and where people may immigrate into the country. They also seem to be mainly focused on illegal immigrants, and fails to recognise that many Hispanics and Latinos are actually legal in the US.