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Layers of Identity (&) Privilege in Legislation: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Senate Bill 744

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Date Issued:
2015
Abstract/Description:
This research examines Senate Bill 744 (S.744) from the 113th Congress of the United States, and its findings will be used as a model to reveal problems in similar legislation. Senate Bill 744 was proposed by the 113th Congress in an attempt to accomplish bi-partisan immigration reform. The bill was viewed (and still is) as a comprehensive compromise, in that neither Democrats nor Republicans were completely satisfied with its result. The outcome was that the legislators who were involved in S.744's creation were satisfied that something on the topic of immigration reform had been accomplished (the bill passed the Senate, but never came up for a vote in the House), even if it was not what they, nor their constituents really wanted. S.744 addressed, what the researcher perceives, as the key Democratic and Republican issues concerning immigration reform in the United States, which were status for undocumented immigrants on the left, and increased border security on the right. However, the researcher also notes that neither of these issues were handled well in the bill because of their exclusionary nature, and that is what led her to this research. This study is important because it will highlight legislative failures and look at how representatives can be held more accountable for their use of disingenuous language. This research looks at aspects of identity and privilege as they relate to exclusions from the dominant culture, and consequently the legislative process. The researcher would like to disclose that as an immigrant herself she has first-hand experience of the system's failures, and is approaching this project with personal invested interested in the success of future legislation.
Title: Layers of Identity (&) Privilege in Legislation: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Senate Bill 744.
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Name(s): Hewkin, Jessica, Author
Sandoval, Jennifer, Committee Chair
Hanlon, Christine, Committee Member
Santana, Maria, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2015
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This research examines Senate Bill 744 (S.744) from the 113th Congress of the United States, and its findings will be used as a model to reveal problems in similar legislation. Senate Bill 744 was proposed by the 113th Congress in an attempt to accomplish bi-partisan immigration reform. The bill was viewed (and still is) as a comprehensive compromise, in that neither Democrats nor Republicans were completely satisfied with its result. The outcome was that the legislators who were involved in S.744's creation were satisfied that something on the topic of immigration reform had been accomplished (the bill passed the Senate, but never came up for a vote in the House), even if it was not what they, nor their constituents really wanted. S.744 addressed, what the researcher perceives, as the key Democratic and Republican issues concerning immigration reform in the United States, which were status for undocumented immigrants on the left, and increased border security on the right. However, the researcher also notes that neither of these issues were handled well in the bill because of their exclusionary nature, and that is what led her to this research. This study is important because it will highlight legislative failures and look at how representatives can be held more accountable for their use of disingenuous language. This research looks at aspects of identity and privilege as they relate to exclusions from the dominant culture, and consequently the legislative process. The researcher would like to disclose that as an immigrant herself she has first-hand experience of the system's failures, and is approaching this project with personal invested interested in the success of future legislation.
Identifier: CFE0005805 (IID), ucf:50046 (fedora)
Note(s): 2015-08-01
M.A.
Sciences, Communication
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): immigration -- identity -- privilege -- legislation
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005805
Restrictions on Access: campus 2016-08-15
Host Institution: UCF

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