Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Natalie Sanchez 
6/7/11
History BM reflection:
My favorite part of this project was being given the opportunity to change the course of American history. This was exiting to me because it gave me the chance to play with history. It was like opening a new toy; I got to play with it and see the different things that could happen. The most difficult part of this benchmark was picking a point in history that I wanted to change. There were so many points to choose from, so it was very hard for me to decide. Once I picked my topic, however, it was harder to come up with a story of how America changed because of this historical modification. I had to do a lot of research on my subject just to understand it fully, and once I had a pretty good grasp on the subject, I started to brainstorm how changing its outcome would affect American history. It was a very hard and tedious task to come up with a point in American history, change it, and rewrite how things turned out in America. 
Though the project was tedious and took a lot of time, I learned some pretty interesting things during my researching phase. The most interesting fact that I found during this process was that the Northeast and Mid west states were once rust belt states. Rust belt states were areas that were heavily populated with foreign factory workers. These Rust belt supported the democratic party, while the Southern and Western states mostly supported the Republican party. Their votes reflected their ideals, as the foreigner, impoverished workers of the Rust belt states wanted immigration reform, while the American citizens that lived in the Western and Southern regions of America were very patriotic, and therefore, did not support immigration reform. 
In this project, I learned that the decision that one person makes can have a large scale affect. For example, in the 1980's, Reagan had the most influence on the issue of immigration in American because he was the one who decided if the Immigration Reform and Control Act or (IRCA) of 1986 was to become an act or not. I made it so that he vetoed the IRCA of 1986. Consequentially, our economy changed drastically, as we are suffering a huge depression, and live in a country where the unemployment rate has increased 75% what is used to be in 1986, when the decision of vetoing the IRCA of 1986 was initially made. These things only occur in my history of course, but it just goes to show you that the decision that one person makes created a domino affect that will eventually affect a bigger aspect. The decision that Reagan made allowed U.S. legalization to a considerable amount of hard-working immigrants and made sure that they received the wages that they deserved, as neutralized U.S. citizens. Not only this, but it also helped our economy. This is a good example of the effects of systematic change. 

One change in decision can change the whole course of history. One decision can lead to a huge change in the United States. It was Madam Curie's decision to study physics that allowed her to discovery the therapeutic properties of Radium, as it treated malignant tumors. It was young man's decision to shoot the arch duke of France that sparked WWI. As mentioned before, these small decisions create a domino affect that change the whole course of American history. 
If I could do this project again, I would start building my website a week prior to the due date of the Benchmark. This way, I would avoid all of the stress that comes with the work of putting all of my individual components of the Benchmark together into one multimedia presentation. My project can be better in the its presentation aspect. If I were to do this project again, I would improve my website by adding embellishments and more color to it. This would make my website more attractive, therefore, increasing its presentation quality.  


Here is the link 
to my website.

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