GPHC 2018-2019

The political tension on immigration has continued to rise in the past few years. The possibility of a wall along the US-Mexican border is a representation of our perception of borders today––borders are meant to keep some people out and others in; they are a dividing force between one country and the next. But borders don't always have to be dividers; in some cases, they act as a bridge to bring people together. The Haskell Free Library is a library intentionally located along the US-Canadian border in Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. Black tape lines the floor, signifying the international border between the US and Canada. It takes both Canadian and US dollars, houses French and English books, and librarians speak both languages. The Haskell Library embraces that it brings people from both sides together; it "relishes its role as a sort of free-trade zone for humans." Built by the Haskell family in 1908, the library was designed to encourage friendly, cross-...

Zoey Weinstein Mr. Roddy GPHC 1/31/19 Americans Moving to Canada Since Trump Election When Donald Trump got elected as president, many people made jokes like, “I’m moving to Canada!” But, as Canada’s federal immigration statistics tell us, over the first half of Trump’s presidency, Canada has seen a higher number of American immigrants moving to Canada. As of August 2018, over 1000 more Americans received permanent residency in Canada than during Obama’s presidency. Along with these 1000 more people moving to Canada, student visas of U.S. citizens going to school in canada increased by approximately 1,012. Based on the trackings of IP addresses, ovr 100,000 Americans had at least done research on moving to Canada to escape the Trump presidency. People have looked at moving to many provinces of Canada,many in. Saskatchewan.  American interest in Saskatchewan increased from 0.1 percent between Jan. 1, 2016 and Nov. 1, 2016 to 0.5 per cent between Jan. 1, 2017 and Nov. 1, ...

Callista Wilson Mr. Roddy Global Politics and Historical Contexts 30 January 2019 The British Immigration Debate Since the end of World War Two, the amount of immigrants entering The United Kingdom has continuously increased, and the British population is finding it difficult to agree on whether or not immigrants should be viewed as beneficial. For starters, The UK is unique in the sense that healthcare is free to anyone in the UK, regardless of whether they are a permanent resident, on a working visa, or even on vacation. In relation to this, the 2004 and 2007 expansions to the EU have consequently caused immigrants to enter the UK at overwhelming rates because many of them are interested in higher living standards as well as free healthcare. In response to this, some British people feel that immigration is a problem because an increase of people entering the UK has lead to to an increase in living expenses, and a decrease in job opportunities. On the other hand, other B...

     One of the oddest countries when it comes to immigration is Qatar. Their percentage of immigrants making up the population is 73.8%. It's a country with a population of around 2.6 million, meaning over 1.9 million of those living in the country are immigrants. This wasn't always the case, in fact during the 1960s there were barely any immigrants and the population was 47,000 people. During the 1980s the country received a population growth of 10%, and later in 2005 it grew 15% over the course of only 5 years. They seem to like their growth as in only 2017 they changed their immigration policy to allow citizens from over 80 countries to visit Qatar without needing a visa or any paperwork to enter the country. Those who visit are allowed to stay for up to 90 days.      The amount of immigrants, or non-Qataris, in the country is astonishing and even more surprising is that they make up 94% of the working population. This is because the majority of immig...

Riots in the street of France over Emmanual Macron's Climate fighting tax plans. Macrons plan to fight climate change was to increase the already steep taxes that hap been put on petroleum fuels, the objective of this tax was to push motorists towards other green means of transportation. Macron's goal to lead the climate change action has slowed to a grinding halt because of the people of France can't deal with the large taxes he is imposing on the people. “No tax is worth putting in danger the unity of the nation,” said Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. many other French political figures don't agree with the tax. “Higher taxes on energy have always been a hard sell, politically,” said N. Gregory Mankiw, an economics professor at Harvard University and advocate of carbon taxes. “The members of the American Economic Association are convinced of their virtue. But the median citizen is not.”