You'd have to be entirely disconnected if you haven't heard that President Donald Trump, eager to show promised action to his electorate, has begun to flex federal power on deportations.
"Illegal" immigration has been an issue that our country's government has squabbled over, tacitly ignored and simultaneously exploited for most of my life (and maybe, longer). Both Democrat and Republican presidents have vowed to deport those in violation of our country's laws. The only difference, from what I can see, is each of them has a different set point on their "thermostat".
All immigrants here without the federal government's official blessing are dangerous criminals is the current administration's talking point, meaning their thermostat for deportation has been turned way up to the boiling point. Mass deportations were promised, and it appears that mass deportations will be delivered, with a daily goal currently set by the administration for ICE to round up 1,200 detainees per day.
Most people, however, recognize the ridiculousness of calling most immigrants dangerous criminals. It's the nasty rhetoric that attempts to make the government's actions more palatable- a "protection from invasion". People who shared a bus with us, bussed our table at a Mexican restaurant, or mowed our lawn last week didn't draw a sideways glance; now, a danger? Statistically speaking, undocumented immigrants commit fewer crimes than citizens, likely to steer clear of the law as a form of self protection. It is estimated by the Department of Homeland Security that 11 million people fall into the undocumented category, having crossed the border or overstayed their current visa. Of those, 650,000 have a criminal background of any sort, which is 5-6% of the total.
Of course, there are some violent migrant criminals, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have long been acting to deport these individuals after they have served their sentences here. They're the justification to get us all to stomach the raids, the sweeps. Of course, the new administration has already said that it's fine with "collateral" arrests, those people that ICE were not looking for, but stumbled upon. So, for the purposes of this conversation, let's focus mainly on the vast majority of migrants and refugees, the collateral detainees, just trying to live their lives in peace.
Here are three perspectives of mine on our current immigration situation
1. People are resources
The heaviest, most difficult thing to see happening in this country right now is the undervaluing of human lives. Migrants are no exception. Every human brings something to the table, and they all bring different things at different points in their lives. A troubled teen can grow up to be a business owner or a school teacher. An immigrant started the yogurt company, "Chobani". There's a massive amount of labor going on in our country that is thanks to the migrant workers. Our economy would be severely wounded if every undocumented worker would somehow "disappear".
Of course, " 'cause- the economy" is a shitty reason to do anything. The value that people bring to the table is soul work, not labor. Elderly people teach us wisdom, infants teach us patience, it's all valuable, from cradle to grave. It's important to recognize the impact of mass deportation, but the economy alone matters little when it comes to the worth of any human life. Each human being has intrinsic value, a sacredness that is a form of equality.
As family size grows smaller, fewer people are having children and fewer children are born in America, you would think that extra workers would be viewed as a benefit. Unless they're not meeting someone's eugenic standards. We don't need a bunch of ultra-rich businessmen defining who's worthy and who's not.
2. All people have human rights
Picking up on #1, all people have human rights, that belong to them upon birth. People have come here from the beginning of our country, rich and poor, to make a new start for themselves. Rounding people up in raids and separating them from their whole life and livelihood is a terrible thing to do. Worse, family separations are promised, which compounds the damage by passing it to the next generation.
3. Legal precedent matters
We've never seen immigration enforcement so swift and so gleeful. Every day a person is in this country, it becomes more of a home to them. It's like there's a reprieve of the law. It's the line from the movie, The Princess Bride, "Good Night, Good Job, Wesley. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." Eventually, the threat wears out. There's a tacit agreement between the country and these people, by the fact that they have not been deported long ago. The law calls this "precedent", and it's one (good) reason it's so hard to change anything in this country.
Because, people move on. They start to breathe. They put down roots. They marry, get jobs and go on with their lives. Many begin the process of becoming citizens. Many would love to be able to afford to do that. But that part doesn't actually matter, see, because we've told them for years that it doesn't.
Here are 2 things I hear when folks are discussing immigration that I disagree with:
1. "They're taking our jobs/resources"
Working class Americans often spout this as a reason to proceed with deportations. However, the type of jobs that migrants do are not ones we're really interested in as Americans. No one's looking forward to picking crops or cleaning toilets. It's important work, and it needs done, and there is value in it. But I doubt the Americans who are complaining about the loss of jobs would be willing to do these jobs.
One of the earliest methods of controlling the poor is to give one subset a slight advantage over another subset. This effectively drives a division between the two. Sometimes, this works. Sometimes, it doesn't and the natural gregariousness between people means that friendships, romance, family and bonds arise regardless of legal status, cultural differences and across situations. Either way, when you hear this argument, just remember this tactic.
It's also a matter of perceived scarcity: The wild lie that we're on our last crumb, and we must cry out selfishly or starve. I'm sorry, you can't convince me we're truly facing scarcity in our country when we have rows and rows of empty homes in our area that only see occasional use; when people spend more than a week's salary on a new phone. Yes, life can be hard and undoubtedly harder for some than for others. But true scarcity? That's a lark.
2. Open borders would be best
I disagree that the solution to our current situation is just to wave everyone in. First, this would encourage more people to put their lives on the line to undertake a dangerous and uncertain journey. It's a gamble that might not be worth taking.
Everything is so much harder for those who live outside the system, like undocumented immigrants do. To put it simply, they are harder to help. Sadly, too, our current status quo of "don't ask, don't tell" about migration created a caste system of laborers (and even human trafficking victims) to be exploited at lower wages and poorer conditions. It's kinda like leading people on, right? Unless we actually fix the broken immigration system, letting people in but not actually getting them fully resettled as legal residents or citizens is just another form of injustice. Many people in fact have entered our country and are floundering amongst the challenges. They may want to go home to family and country, but have either no resources to actually make the trip back or no situation in their home country that would allow it, like housing or jobs.
Although we're clearly not at that point, there is also a tipping point where we would reach carrying capacity, a true scarcity situation. Prudent controls on the border, slowing or stopping the number of new immigrants arriving are measures that are a far cry, however, to what is happening today. Careful assessment of potential refugee status should always be part of prudent and ethical border control.
What's the business case against mass deportations and for widespread amnesty?
Our best hope in all this mess, believe it or not, is that Trump and those in his inner circle are businessmen. Note, I do not say that I am hopeful. But it is our best hope. They absolutely must realize the risk of over-deportation to the point where food would rot in fields and construction would thoroughly stall. I sense the goal here is to shake people up, make a good show of power, and then let things trickle off, after they feel like they've won the pissing contest toying with people's lives.
One of the most difficult and mind blowing aspects of this push for mass deportations is how unnecessary and wasteful it is. It's expensive to detain and deport people. The cost of a military flight back to Central America is more than first class. Rounding up, feeding and detaining the collateral deportees is also expensive. The toll of human costs is far more expensive, though. Collateral damage, indeed.
Amnesty is one option out of this mess. Setting aside the nightmare and headache of the citizenship process, amnesty would speed up the process to legitimatize those who have been here anything longer than a few weeks or months.
Those who don't feel too concerned about the collateral deportees or feel they would be justifiably removed because they broke the law coming here, please take a moment to consider the person as a human not a number. The punishment surely overshoots the "crime". It would be like if a state trooper was allowed to shoot out your tires because you were doing 5 mph over the speed limit.
This has been an emotional blog for me to write. I also recognize with humility how small a voice I have. My intention is to ask each of you to consider this problem thoughtfully, thoroughly ,and respectfully. For further reading, please consider "Solito, Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America". If you are interested in helping immigrants and refugees in the US, consider a donation to Catholic Charities in a city near you.
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