Aliens

[sijunlisrad]

David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Daily Star, 9/17/08

This cartoon is a humorous approach to a controversial problem. It deals with illegal immigrants who are taking American jobs. The cartoon shows the immigrants as illegal aliens. There are four little green creatures obviously from outer space because of the spaceship in the background. The American holding the gun threatens the aliens because he’s afraid they’ll take job opportunities away. He says that if they are there to “take jobs that Americans won’t take, he’ll gladly take us to his leader.” The American is referring to “Lou Dobbs”, who will stomp the aliens “flat like bugs.”

At first, I didn’t understand this cartoon because I didn’t know who Lou Dobbs was. I found out that he’s a CNN editor who has his own show and is passionate about the illegal immigration and border security. Lou Dobbs is opposed to illegal immigrants, the H-1B visa program and guest worker programs. He criticizes the Mexican government for not changing their laws to help the poor and his show features many related issues about the immigration policy. The American in the cartoon obviously agrees with Dobb’s views. It’s mainly because the immigrants are taking jobs away from the American people. Immigrants come to the US to lead a better life; if no one is willing to take the jobs that keep our society running, who will? To be blunt, Americans expect too much. We’re unwilling to take the more demeaning jobs that are available. The jobs that no one is willing to accept need to be done by someone, whether it be an American or an immigrant. The United States government should, indeed, keep a closer eye on the borders, but it is unfair to threaten immigrants who are just trying to improve their lives and feed their family.

“Lou Dobbs.” Wikipedia. 17 Sep. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Dobbs#Political_views>

[roycastro]

I agree with your bluntness. Americans do expect too much. They want everything to be running smoothly, but they won't accept the jobs necessary to do so. To make things clearer, I think of this whole situation as a car. To make it run smoothly, you have to keep the engine and motors clean, but how can you expect the car to be running smoothly if you won't get under the hood and clean it yourself? So what do we do? We go to a mechanic or some sort of automotive specialist- someone else. Not only do Americans expect too much, but they have tendencies to be hypocritical. They want to keep immigrants (who accept the unfavorable jobs) out, but they don't want to "get their hands dirty" doing those jobs. When their cars aren't running smoothly, they go to someone else to do it- something similar to what the immigrants do for the U.S.

[Mr. Wells]

Great analysis and research, Sijun.

30/25