Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Issues with Illegal Immigration

Jaime Gonzales
The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302

Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

There are many philosophies about immigration that cause widespread debate throughout
the country, in this case the United States of America. Such debates are between those who
believe that illegal immigrants should be sent back to their country of origin as well as those who
want to make them into residents or even citizens of the United States. This analysis will look at
two genres from the same side of the issue, made by two different groups of people. The genres
that will be used in this document are those of a visual genre being a YouTube video named
Broken lives of immigrants deported from US to Mexico - BBC News. The next is a
typographic genre which is a website named American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants
Rights. The structure of both genres is important to prove their point, using ethos pathos and
logos in order to make those who support the rights of immigrants be more enthusiastic about
their stance as well as to change the minds of those who are against such a thing. The purpose of
this document is to portray the evidence and rhetorical strategies that are used in the two
different genres.
Audience and Purpose
The intended audience for the YouTube video: Broken lives of immigrants deported
from US to Mexico BBC News is trying to reach out to internet users around the United
States who are on YouTubes search engine trying to find arguments about immigration. It targets
those who stand up against immigrants being civil rights activists to those who are relatives of
immigrants and can identify with the mainly Hispanic population. One thing about this video is
that it reaches out to those who are against illegal immigration from Mexico and does not make
sure to include immigrants form the many other countries around the world. It tries to reach
discourse communities from church communities as well as both sides of the border region.

Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

The American Civil Liberties Union makes a website in order to raise awareness about
immigration which reaches out to anyone who has a computer and an internet connection in the
United States. It expresses that everyone should be concerned about the current immigration
policies as they are taking away constitutional rights of those who are seen as illegal immigrants.
It reaches out to those who are from or have a liking to the Hispanic community and even
provides information for those immigrants who are aspiring to go through the legal process of
gaining U.S. citizenship.
Both of the genres differ in the usage of how they try to persuade the audience by how
the YouTube video is trying to get a message across through the usage of visual representations
of the harshness that an illegal immigrant has to go through when they are sent back to Mexico.
In contrast, the website provides written and documented accounts of how the people are being
sent back without proper due process of law, in the current times the YouTube video is more
attractive to gain support than a website that has documented information as people are less
likely to lose interest in something that walks them through the information than one that allows
them to explore in order to gain more comprehension.
Rhetorical Issues
The use of rhetorical strategies is very important in order to gain the trust and credibility
that captures biased audiences as well as those who are not sure of what stance they should take
in an issue; these genres incorporate all three types of rhetorical types in order to further
persuade the general audience towards their goals.
Ethos

Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

The first genre is made by CNN which is a prestigious news provider which is known
worldwide making which establishes a fairly good ethos because of who made it. It may be good
but not the best as news providers are not trusted very much nowadays as other news casters only
show one side of a situation or stretch truth in order to get more attention, but CNN is not very
known to do such a thing. The second genre is made by the American Civil Liberties Union
which according to the website claims For more than 25 years, the ACLU has been at the
forefront of almost every major legal struggle on behalf of immigrants rights(ACLU 2014). It
is a union that is known for ensuring the rights that should be guaranteed to civilians of the
United States which is always good for the ethos segment.
Pathos
The emotions that the first genre attempts to evoke is that of pity towards those whom
have been deported from the United States and are currently living in really bad conditions. The
visual genre uses testimonies such as one woman who explained that her family lives in the
United States while she is back in Mexico My entire family is in the United States, I am the
only one in Mexico. Its devastating, thats what you feel like (ACLU, 2014)
The website does the same but is able to provide documented accounts as well as some
video links, one in which a border patrol was threatening an innocent civilian who owns a home
in the border region. In order to gain more emotion, the video link about the civilian at one point
shows her children explaining the situation that occurred. They were talking mean and they
were saying get out of the car without telling her why (ACLU, 2014). This brings more
attention because it seems as though the border patrol could have scarred the children being so
innocent.

Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

5
Logos

CNNs video begins with the use of statistics about how many immigrants have been
deported since the 2009 presidential term in order to show a large number of people who have
been sent back. 2 million undocumented immigrants have been deported from the US since
Barack Obama entered the white house (CNN, 2014) This helps build the logical argument of
the YouTube video as it gives information that lets people imagine that undocumented people are
being sent out in large groups at a time.
The American Civil Liberties Union website on Immigration is able to provide more
ways of establishing logic such as more statistics that it can provide, such statistics are as
follows: There are 41 million immigrants in the United States In 2013, 83 percent of people
deported from the United States were not given a hearing before a judge. The United States
spends $1.84 billion detaining immigrants (ACLU 2014). The purpose of these statistics in this
order is to make people think that there are 41 immigrants in the United States, some are sent
without having been granted constitutional rights and it is very expensive.
Structure and Delivery
In order to captivate more attention, CNNs YouTube video is molded in a way to make
use of the little time it has. The information is brought out first as the general topic of deportation
to more personal accounts of people whom are struggling because of their illegal status. The
structure provides a way for the viewer to get a general idea of what the purpose is going to be
about then is able to persuade them into accepting the point of view that is given. As to the
website, one is taken to a main page in which it gives a brief description of what the goals of the
website is as well as presenting who the creators are. It then is structured to evoke curiosity into

Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

one as the links provided are made to look interesting. There are also more informative links
which allow more in depth information for those of a higher standard of persuasion.

Conclusion
Both of the individual genres used are from credible sources and indeed biased on the
issue of the illegal immigration but more than likely will successfully do their part in rallying up
attention and support of more rights for illegal immigrants who cross the border from Mexico to
the United States. This is due to how they are neatly organized although they contain many
differences because of their genre type, as one can be more informational such as the website
with the individual court cases and the other may leave a more emotional outlook on the
audience which depending on which discourse community they partake in will leave a lasting
impression no matter what.

Running Head: ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

References
(n.a).BBC News (2014, March 20). Broken lives of immigrants deported from US to Mexico.
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5aKWkooNJU.
American Civil Liberties Union. Immigrants' Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2015.
acluvideos (2014, March 24). Border Patrol Terrorizes a Mom and Her Two Kids. Retrieved
from https://www.aclu.org/video/border-patrol-terrorizes-mom-and-her-two-kids