Immigration and Poverty
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Immigration and Poverty
Title
The title of this social campaign will be "Striving For What Matters!”
State legislator (Representative of the communities)
This plan will be submitted by Katherine Clark, who assumed office in the capacity of United States Representative in the 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts since 2013. Representing a diverse district that comprises twenty-four towns and cities, Katherine has a real fight on her hands, whereby she is striving to ensure affordable healthcare for the immigrants and unprivileged segments of the society. The communities under her jurisdiction stretch from the coasts of Winthrop to the economic hub of Metro West. The proposal will impact Middlesex, Worcester, and Suffolk counties.
Immigration and Poverty
Analyzing the data from 2009 it can be seen that a significant number of residents in the state of Massachusetts were immigrants, and most of them originally belonged to Asia and Latin America. According to a study, this percentage turned out to be 14.4% CITATION Cla12 \l 1033 (Clayton-Matthews, 2012). In the pursuit of economic prosperity, these immigrants arrived here so that they can provide a decent standard of living to their families and have better access to inclusive opportunities but the reports maintain that the multi-dimensional poverty rate is higher in Massachusetts than many other states. CITATION Luc19 \l 1033 (Ciurczak, 2019). There was also an unprecedented increase in the illegal population of migrants in Massachusetts than in any other state. This illegal migration brought a dramatic increase in the annual cost that the taxpayers in Massachusetts had to pay for the welfare of all these citizens regarding healthcare, education, and other social amenities.
Different organizations and welfare associations in Massachusetts are also targeting their collective efforts to fight against many cruel policies imposed by the federal authorities. These policies also entail various anti-immigration laws that pose barriers for the immigrants to feel safer and more welcome in the recipient state. Specifically, in Massachusetts, several cities have enacted many policies that restrict the collaborative efforts of organizations mirroring the spirit of federal deportation laws. Immigrants play a pivotal role in the economic growth of any country, and the United States is a true depiction of this case. The change in immigration rates is a driver for effects in the poverty rate of the nationals due to increased competition caused by immigrant labor. There is a strong correlation between periods of high immigration and rapid improvements in living standards. Yet, many immigrants face discrimination and barriers to an opportunity at different levels.
Similarly, poverty is a highly pervasive issue that needs immediate attention from governmental authorities at all levels. Although Massachusetts is one of the most privileged states in the United States of America, one in every ten of the households still has to face untoward circumstances because of poverty incidence CITATION Jac16 \l 1033 (Jacobs, 2016). The official poverty line is significantly low, according to federally generated data; therefore, problems associated with this social level are a real challenge for the state.
Strategies and Goals
The long-term objectives of the campaign are:
Investment in those organizations that solely focus on job skills training so that defined career pathways driven by employer needs can be introduced to the immigrants.
The Development of a model with integrated services is inclusive of public placement, financial training, and career placement.
Management and oversight of a wide range of social needs of the local community of immigrants involving food security, potable water, sanitation facilities, job opportunities
Solving the problems as a result of poverty locally through collective efforts of the community
Designing and implementing a new set of revolutionary measures to tackle poverty which can redress the compound problems faced by those immigrants who have low-income jobs
Keeping the focus on shaping the new narrative on individual immigrants and not on the policies and structural barriers that are responsible for this situation
Formation and maintenance of an adequate social protection platform that protects the unemployed immigrants for a temporary period. This can also assist in the well-being of the immigrants through the provision of conditional cash transfers.
Intermediate goals:
Propagation of awareness regarding the problems stemming from immigration and poverty
Championship and endorsement of a proactive dialogue among the general public of Massachusetts and the stakeholders of the educational and health facilities
Establishment of live web lectures and informational videos about the dangers of poverty in different meetings
Addressing the children in schools and parks and teaching them the grave consequences of poverty through skits and dramas.
Firstly, there is a huge potential in immigration reforms for the creation of a pathway that can enable many immigrants and unprivileged people to seek opportunities in the pursuit of financial prosperity. Endorsing this issue will help to achieve substantial improvement in the lives of immigrants by educating the general public. It will be a bilateral and informative process where all the agents of socialization will actively learn from each other and adapt practices in the pursuit of securing the future for the coming generations.
A few short-term or intermediate victories that can be achieved while pursuing long-term goals include awareness developed among the children who have impressionable brains. Resultantly, they will become functional citizens of the society in the future, targeting their efforts to improve conditions for the unprivileged.
Potential constituents, allies, and opponents
Constituents
Following associations and non-profit organizations will be the potential constituents of the campaign apart from the general public:
United Way (UW): Working with almost 1,250 local offices across America, United Way is a non-profit organization which is striving day and night to raise funds for the immigrants who are facing troublesome circumstances.
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI): Securing the economic rights of low-income immigrants, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute is instrumental in developing and coordinating state-wide strategies so that the immediate legal needs of the immigrants can be accommodated.
The Boston Foundation: Extending a significant chunk of its resources to the unprivileged, The Boston Foundation envisions to break the vicious circle of poverty for almost all the poor households currently dwelling in Massachusetts.
In addition to these organizations, different communities from Massachusetts will also be actively involved in the campaign. Primarily, the Dominican and Latino diaspora from Massachusetts, who undergo problems of social exclusiveness and racial discrimination daily, will be the front faces of this campaign to instill empathy in people. Discouragement of anti-immigration laws is also possible through the active participation of racial minorities and various communities of the state. There will also be different demonstrations from the student community in promoting potential solutions against poverty incidence.
Allies
The allies of this social campaign will be participants from the local church of Massachusetts, local schools, and universities, Marty Walsh, who is the former mayor of Massachusetts, and regional media groups. The regional and local media groups will serve the cause in two noble ways. On the one hand, they will cover all the events of the campaign free of cost, and on the other hand, they will support the campaign with utmost enthusiasm. Zazil media group and Beasley Media Group Boston are especially noteworthy in this sense as they have always been forthcoming in broadcasting social campaigns. Other political leaders and clergy of the local community will also act in the capacity of allies of this campaign.
Opponents
The followers of Republican senators, specifically, David Perdue and Tom Cotton, who strongly support anti-immigration laws and bills are predicted to oppose this campaign. Similarly, the adherents of RAISE Bill, which entails reforms in the immigration policies to focus on the natives' rate of employment, are also thought to pose barriers in the smooth proceedings of this campaign.
Communication tactics
Historically, many social issue campaigns have deployed a plethora of communication tactics to galvanize different communities regarding a special problem. The intensity of the problem can be successfully mitigated if the right communication and engagement tactics are sued in a campaign. Disseminating compelling stories according to a story-based strategy helps to capture the attention of media groups in an efficacious manner, and distinct symbols are also employed to pressurize a specific target in many instances.
Besides these communication tactics, which are meticulously detailed below, the campaign will be covered by local and state-wide newspapers and TV channels so that communities and organizations across America can get aware of the problems and untoward circumstances faced by immigrants.
Print
In the print media, different articles and reports will be published in a multitude of local newspapers and magazines. Different communication tactics, for instance, graphics and strong advertising, will be used to engage the local communities. Story-telling through publishing real accounts of the problems of immigrants and poor households will also prove to be instrumental in galvanizing people regarding anti-immigration policies by the federal government. Signage, posters, and banners posted across the state with powerful messages and distributing brochures detailing the proceedings of the campaign can also be deployed as communication tactics. This tactic will achieve goals through the principles of mass media. Inclusive portrayals and life stories of the immigrants will call for the attention of the brands and advertising industry; thus, this media coverage will become a pre-cursor for raising funds and donations for the poor.
Face-to-face
Different performances will be scheduled at different points of time during the official period of the campaign. The communication tactics will involve various demonstrations with meaningful backdrops. In one of the demonstrations, the students of the local schools and colleges will march while enclosed in wheeled cages. This will prove to be a strong symbol of the recent immigration policies and bans. In another proposed idea of demonstration, the effects of poverty will be shown by the march of a homeless group of men. Additionally, the people who are suffering at the hands of anti-immigration policies will also be presented as the front face of this campaign.
Public speaking by the state's mayor and other political leaders will also be a special event of this campaign.
Social Media
Blogs, mailing of various newsletters, social story-telling through Facebook posts, broadcasting the campaign on different channels on YouTube are some of the communication tactics which can be corroborated through social media. Popular Instagram accounts, such as “Immigrants of Massachusetts’’ and going live through the official accounts of Massachusetts’s mayor and local clergy will also engage the stakeholders and general community in proposing further solutions to this problem. The promotion of press-releases of the campaign on social media is also a powerful communication tactic.
Potential upsides and liabilities of social media usage
There are many potential advantages to broadcast this campaign on social media. Promotion of the message through social media will help to create a direction, and every part of the campaign will be tailored to engage the stakeholders through proper usage of social media. Measurement and reporting of any progress in the circumstances of immigrants will easily be done through indicators of social media. Cross-platform campaigns, for instance, live broadcasting of the campaign through Facebook and Instagram simultaneously will make the process more efficient.
On the other hand, there is an off-chance of the propagation of hate speech and negative information about the campaign. Followers of republicanism and the new anti-immigration laws will not be hesitant in bullying the immigrants and propagate large amounts of violent speeches on social media platforms. A lot of misinformation can also be forwarded from the social media sites, which will render the unprivileged people vulnerable to a lot more hateful attitudes in society.
Allocation of the fund
Half a million will be invested in those associations and non-profit organizations that are striving to create job opportunities for the immigrants. There are special training and career counseling sessions conducted by United Way and Boston Charity, so after carefully monitoring and evaluating these sessions, a portion of half a million will be granted for further improvement and enhancement of those training sessions. Additionally, highly qualified and experienced career counselors will be hired by some philanthropist organizations, and their salaries for the initial period will be given from that amount. From the rest amount, two hundred thousand dollars will be given to the immigration reform institution for smoothly carrying out the permanent residency processes of the immigrants. This money will also be allocated to bring the estranged families of the immigrants to the United States. The rest three hundred thousand will solely be allocated for creating awareness about the issues across America. A million dollars cannot suffice for transforming the lives of immigrants and the poor households, so propagation of the message will be the first constructive step towards raising more funds.
New narrative (stories and keywords)
The manifestations of the helplessness and poverty of immigrants (e.g., inadequate education, school dropout, lack of healthcare, propagation of disease, abject hunger, malnutrition) are evident in the contemporary world, and the new narrative will revolve around the gravity of this problem. The potential theme to build the new narrative would be to make people realize that all these strict immigration reforms and policies at the cost of immigrants’ lives are a catastrophe, and no one will be exempted from its harmful effects. Everyone is equally responsible, and everyone is equally a victim.
Stories that connect stakeholders with various agencies promote shared values, for instance, security and mobility. Thematic stories about those immigrants who have succeeded in managing a successful position in American society will build the new narrative.
Some of the keywords used for stressing on the importance of this campaign are as follows:
Poverty, Immigration, Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, Inclusiveness, Innovative Solutions, Career Development, Fundamental Rights.
References
Bobo, K., Kendall, J., & Max, S. (1996). Organizing for social change. Santa Ana, CA: Seven Locks Press.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Ciurczak, L. S. (2019, September 11). Poverty in Massachusetts Higher Than 24 Other States. Retrieved from https://www.bostonindicators.org/: https://www.bostonindicators.org/article-pages/2019/september/supplementary-poverty-measure
Clayton-Matthews, A. a. (2012). "Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers, Second Edition: Demographic. Institute for Asian American Studies Publications.
Jacobs, D. &. (2016). Politics and economic stratification: Power resources and income inequality in the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 469-500.
Reinsborough, P., & Canning, D. (2010). Re: Imagining change
