Public participation entails a process that ensures to engage the public in the process of making decisions while considering the input of the public when making the decisions. Public participation revolves around several events. It comprises of several actions and activities over a project’s lifespan to inform the public while gathering their input. Public participation involves the diverse stakeholders including those having interests in a given issue, including the government, communities, interest groups, and individuals the chance of influencing the decisions that impact their lives. Organizations should not emphasize on the issue that gathering the input of the public requires doing what they wish. In general, no single public prevails. Rather, the public comprises of various stakeholders having diverse concerns and views toward a given issue. When considering any issue pertaining to public participation, agencies, such as the ones by the government should ensure that they gather input from diverse stakeholders to allow them gain insights regarding certain concerns and views while ensuring to offer meaningful treatment and social inclusion of all individuals. These initiatives should target all persons irrespective of their color, sexual orientation, income, or national origin, while considering development, deployment, and decisions made via a process that involves the public (EPA, 2018) . Thus, the paper discusses the manner in which San Diego’s movement against the immigration policies by President Donald Trump entailed right of participation in decisions the government is making, right of appropriation regarding concerning utilization of pace in the city, and additional goals by the movement and whether the goals were achieved.
On the movement against the immigration policies by Donald Trump, thousands people from San Diego assembled all over the city protesting against the immigration policies that the administration by Donald Trump imposed, which separated families that sought asylum together with those that crossed the border through illegal means. The marches, which were carried out locally served as a part of the countrywide movement referred to as “Families Belong Together,” while it influenced other key demonstrations in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and other cities all over the country. The extent of the movement revealed that the policies by Trump were unpopular among members of the public. During the movement, around 2,500 protestors gathered at Waterfront Park, San Diego, which served as the biggest movement in the nation (Burks & Mento, 2018) . Outrage by the public grew, particularly owing to the manner in which the policies led to separation of kids from their parents. The administration of Trump adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ policy with the goal of criminally prosecuting all the individuals perceived as crossing the border through illegal means. Evidence also prevailed that families were separated whenever they requested asylum at entry ports, when in the case of those who had identification documents that supported their paternal or maternal ties (Sisson, Cook, & Davis, 2018) . In this vein, it is apparent that the immigration policy by the Trump’s administration was unpopular against the public particularly because it failed to consider the input of the public over such sensitive matters.
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Concerning the right of participation in decisions that the government makes, it entails offering citizens the probability for the civil society organizations, individuals, as well as other interested parties in influencing policy development and laws influencing them. The need for engaging the public in these initiatives is gaining increasing recognition by diverse institutions in the country together with the government, while public participation fosters increased benefits. For instance, encouraging public participation facilitates in the establishment of fair laws/policies that reflect the overall needs of the public while enriching them with increased expertise and experience. Additionally, they facilitate cross-border dialogue to reach a consensus in line with facilitating the adoption of forward looking solutions. Additionally, the policies ensure that the proposed compliance and regulations are legitimate, while reducing the costs because the parties have the capacity of contributing to their individuals resources. Moreover, the initiative would increase ownership, partnership, and responsibility when it comes to implementation, while at the same time strengthening democracy via hindering conflict among the distinct groups between the government and the public. These initiatives would lead individuals to gain increased confidence in public institutions.
Regarding the immigration policy by Trump’s administration, encouraging public participation would lead to the establishment of laws that depict the needs of immigrants, while ensuring cross-sector dialogue on the ideal ways of handling the issue without causing outrage among the public. Encouraging public participation makes it possible to adopt forward-looking solutions toward ways of dealing with displaced immigrants and ways of reuniting them with the families. Furthermore, the costs involved in the process would be minimal because the public would be willing to devote their individual resources as well as increase partnership when handling the immigration issue, which has influenced a large number of individuals in San Diego. Furthermore, by involving the public in the process of devising the immigration policies, it would become possible to strengthen democracy by hindering conflict between the government and the affected immigrants. In this sense, the right of participation in decisions that the government makes influences the immigration policies by making sure that the public in the region would be able to participate fully in the city in a democratic manner.
The movement against the immigration policies by Trump also influences the right of participation, which revolves around the ordinary people’s rights for greater control and how space is utilized in the city. On the issue of the right of appropriation, individuals normally realize their representation of dwelling practices and existence via spaces. Nonetheless, it is crucial to note that space does not always result from accumulation of culture and diversity in daily activities, but established via production and design under capital hegemony. To facilitate in overall space utilization, individuals require appropriation rights. To fulfil this right, it is essential to create space needs in a collective manner. To attain this, it is vital to save space from all power types, while making sure people appropriate it. Using right to appropriation requires the capacity for having spaces that foster diversity, freedom of utilization, and accessibility among all individuals, while making sure they are freed from the capital, state, and institutional knowledge. Appropriation requires these issues to be appropriated otherwise the spaces would always be established and utilized by power and majority groups, while neglecting the input of the minority groups. During the long run, the vulnerable or marginal groups would lack consideration in the initiatives (Sadri & Sadri, 2012) . On the issue of the movements against immigration policies by Trump, therefore, they touch on the issue of appropriation. By availing the right to appropriation, it would be possible to make sure that the immigrants groups in San Diego are have a say in the allocation of spaces while at the same time allowing them to have increased control regarding the manner in which space in the city is utilized. Rather than having control of city space in the hands of the powerful and dominant groups, the minority immigrants would also have rights that would provide them with the opportunity of controlling the utilization of space within the city.
In conclusion, the movement against the immigration policies by Trump concerns the right of participation in decisions that the government makes, which ensures that the public is capable of contributing to various issues that affect them in the city. In addition, the right of appropriation would ensure that the immigrant groups play a role in effective usage of space within the city. In the event of the movement, it entailed making sure that immigrant groups realized equal representation and consideration of immigrant groups, although the goals were not achieved. In this case, laying significant emphasis on right of participation and right of appropriation would play an essential role in making sure that the public influences various policies that influence them to allow them to realize positive outcomes in society.
References
Burks, M., & Mento, T. (2018). San Diego protest of Trump’s immigration policies draws 800, leads to 10 arrests. Retrieved from https://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/jul/02/hundreds-protest-trump-immigration-policies-downto/
EPA. (2018). Public participation guide: introduction to public participation. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/public-participation-guide-introduction-public-participation
Sadri, H., & Sadri, S. Z. (2012). The right to appropriation: spatial rights and the use of space. Appropriation of the city (pp. 1-11). Kyrenia: Girne American University.
Sisson, P., Cook, M., & Davis, K. (2018). For second weekend, Trump's immigration policies at center of San Diego protests. Retrieved from https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/sd-me-family-protests-20180630-story.html
