Classmate comment #2

This person’s blog regarding Arizona’s new immigration law has a compelling argument for and against the issue.

The new Arizona immigration law allows local police officers to arrest anybody that is suspected to be an illegal immigrant and check their legal statuses. “The main aim of the bill is to identify, prosecute and deport the illegal immigrants.”

The author seems to be against the new but has also included reasons why Arizona should go on with the law. The author included poll results which said that 75% of Americans believed that illegal immigrants has been occupying many American jobs while not paying any taxes, and she later said how illegal immigrants are hurting the American economy.

Although these reasons are supporting Arizona’s new law, the author has provided much more reasons against the law which makes me believe that she is against it. The law has brought up suspicions of it being an act of racism because it is promoting segregation and racial profiling. The author has also brought up moral issues regarding those who were born in the U.S. from parents who are illegal immigrants and that it is not “fair” to them that they are sent to their country when they have never lived anywhere outside the United States. This law would increase crime rate because illegal immigrants would not report crimes to the police because they are afraid of being deported. The argument against the law that the author provided are purely ethical reasons which makes it less convincing to those who would prefer more legal reasons. The reasons that support the law are more convincing to me personally because illegal immigrants are occupying American jobs and thus hurting the American economy. The reasons against the law are not violating any legal issue and would not be entirely convince me to go against the law.

From an ethical standpoint, the author’s argument would be convincing to any “average” person but not to someone who would prefer legal reasons.

Congress renews auto safety measures

On Thursday, Congress began working on legislation that would impose far-reaching safety standards on the auto industry. The new regulations includes having a “black box” in each car that would be able to record the car’s crash history and be able to stop the car automatically even when it is at full power. It could also order automakers to recall defective cars immediately and pay the safety fees to cover the costs of federal oversight. Other safety measures that could go in effect are tire and seat belts safety.

I’m glad that Congress is taking the time to take care of this issue now. Some of these safety ideas were already in circulation among automakers for years, but was never put into effect. I believe that these new safety system costs are too much for the automakers to deal with. I think that having automakers recall defective cars immediately would benefit them and their customers. Not only will it reduce the amount of accidents, but it would also save the automakers from millions of dollars from having to fix the damaged cars and dealing with lawsuit issues.

The “black boxes” is also a great idea because in a case of the stuck accelerator, the car would be able to automatically stop the car because it has the ability to “override” the system. This will also save automakers from lawsuits and also increase overall safety for the people in those cars.

The legislation that Congress is working on is actually not only beneficial to the American citizens but also beneficial to automakers as well.