Deportation Nation
August 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
As the Democratic convention winds down and the Republican convention gears up, the immigration situation in the United States continues to worsen.
A three-hour immigration panel was held during the Democratic convention. Many of the attendees and speakers at the panel advocated for comprehensive immigration reform.
Beyond the pageantry of the political conventions a number of disturbing stories have surfaced in the media in the past week. These stories are about families divided, deportation drills at public schools, and unsupervised children abandoned on the Mexican side of the border.
For starters, the ACLU is investigating the nation’s biggest immigration raid to date, which occurred in Mississippi this week. The raid resulted in 600 detainees and countless broken families. Allegedly, workers were locked inside the factory and separated by race. They were also denied access to counsel and families were not told where their loved ones would be detained.
Because of these raids, school districts are asking for up to six emergency contacts for every child in case their parents are deported. The Garland school district is collecting emergency contacts for all of its students. An elementary school principal in the district says parents of his students have already been deported.
An Associated Press article details how deported women and children are increasingly being dropped off by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the border town of Tijuana late at night alone and unsupervised in a dangerous city.
Because of tightening border security parents working illegally in the United States are no longer returning to their home countries to see their children. Instead they are taking the huge risk of having heir children smuggled across the border so they can be reunited.
Sometimes these children are detained by Border Patrol and deported to Mexico to fend for themselves. Many times they become victims of abuse and exploitation.
Many critics will at this point argue that immigrants need to enter the United States “legally.” But unless you are a millionaire or a star athlete it’s virtually impossible to do so. The Reason Foundation has put together a chart that illustrates the convoluted path an immigrant must navigate to enter the U.S legally to work. The chart has more twists and turns than a chutes and ladders game.
Comprehensive immigration was up for serious consideration in 2006 because the system was widely considered to be broken. In 2008, it is beyond broken. It seems a nation of immigrants has become the deportation nation.
August 30th, 2008 at 8:50 am
We have a policy in the United States of arresting people who break our laws. All efforts are made to assure that innocent, albeit illegal, children do not suffer.
Bad things do happen, but wrongheaded policies do not alleviate the situation. Having schools collect more contact names for illegals is a silly waste. What kind of names do you think the illegals will be providing? Do you really think that they will be listing all of the names, addresses and phone numbers of their relatives, who are probably also illegals?
It isn’t hard to enter this country legally, especially if you are from Mexico. You apply, wait for approval, and call the moving vans. You get denied for various reasons, but the most likely reason for being denied if you are from Mexico is that you are a convicted criminal.
Our hearts bleed for the innocent children, but the best way to protect them is to assure that their parents do not place them in such jeopardy.
And please do not forget about the US children. Why should they be exposed to the extra danger of these illegals.
We welcome virtually everyone — except criminals. There is a good reason for that.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I found this article interesting. My heart bleeds for the children, but how desperate must the parents be. I am from Australia and recently had to come to your country to get my 21 year old tourist daughter who had all the correct paperwork to be in your country out of one of these hell holes. This exercise cost us over $A25,000!!! She was not intending to work or live in your country, she only wanted to travel for 6 weeks and see the sights. She was to have flown to London on the day I had her released. Your system is hugely flawed and you need more than a bandaid to fix it. Your country certainly does not welcome virtually anyone and my daughter does not have a criminal record at all