Immigrations

Nowadays immigration is a very debatable issue, especially in Italy. Almost everyday, the news on TV and the newspaper report about flows of illegal immigrants who arrived in Italy in very bed conditions. Immigrants must endure a long and expensive travel by see and they are packed into small and old boat for many days. The conditions on board are very precarious because of the lack of food and water, so when immigrants arrived in Italy, they exhausted and drained by their fast.

Italian politicians have tried to solve the problem of illegal immigration by means of some law. One of the most recent is also the most debated because this law, the Bossi-Fini law was overall ineffective. This law doesn’t prevent illegal immigrants from entering the Italian borders and even though Italian policemen send immigrants back, actually the flow of immigrants arriving is still increasing.

The basic problem is that our country isn’t able to provide to all this people a job and so many immigrants are recruit by criminals. In addition, many people are scared by immigrants and they see in them not only potential criminals but also competitors in the work. Some Italians are afraid of loosing their own job because of the immigrants who settle for a low salary. Actually, I think this is an just an excuse since the immigrants often do the hardest and worst job (an Italian would never do).

In the following class we will discuss this problem in detail and I’ll ask to my peer Allyson to explain us how she perceive the phenomenon of immigration in the US, keeping in mind that Italians were immigrants in the US in the past.

Questions to Allyson

Last week, we did Skype in four, it was quite a mess because sometimes we couldn’t say and listen to our opinions at the same time; however it was very stimulating because the conversation was brilliant and every participant in the conference wanted to support her ideas. Overall, we managed to argue clearly about our political view and I think our exchange was very effective. Not only we discussed valuable issue about elections and politicians but also we find out the importance of voting. It doesn’t matter what candidate you vote, the important thing is to express our opinion and our preference.
The following extract are taken from the discussion on Skype among Laura, Alessia, Allyson and me. Enjoy it and let me know what you think about it!

1. In your opinion, to what extent the decision of the army withdrawal from Iraq is a central theme in the political campaign?
Allyson: ‘I think it’s very important because Clinton and Obama propose to lave Iraq gradually while McCain is determined to carry on it. I think the was in Iraq was a mistake’.

Why do you think that the war in Iraq was a mistake?
Allyson: ‘Bush stated that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but that was an excuse, it was not true.’



2. According to you, what are the most important reasons that persuade American people to vote?
Allyson: ‘Some people are more involved other don’t support anyone. In the families, they vote in a different manner. People feel that they don’t have so much control. A lot of people are registered to vote, but they actually don’t vote. I think people should definitely do it, it’s very important.’


3. If Mac Cain wins the elections, he will be the oldest U.S. President. What do you think about it? Could he be the right person to represent also the youngest generations or not?
Allyson: ‘I’ve never thought about it. I don’t support him. I don’t think he will be the good choice as president from my personal point of view.’


4. Do you think that Hillary's and Obama's campaigns are more concerned with gender and race than mere political issues?
Allyson: ‘I don’t agree to vote for Hillary just because it is a woman. Some old women I know say that they will do vote for Hillary just because she is a woman. As regards Obama, he represents a minority because he is black but I don’t think many people will vote for or against him just because he is black.’
According to you, is there still racism in the US?
Allyson: ‘It is not as bad as it was some years ago. People at my college think that they will vote for him because he is a good candidate and not just because he is black.’

5. In the US are there more private or public hospital?
Allyson: ‘Most are private. We don’t have that many public services.’
Do you think that private works better?
Allyson: ‘Most people think that if you are paid better you do your work better.’