Commentary: Dire consequences of delayed immigration reform
President Barack Obamas broken promise of enacting administrative immigration reform by the end of the summer will undoubtedly have dire consequences for countless families in this country.
Contrary to the administrations assertion that it has targeted criminal aliens for deportation, only one in five of those deported this fiscal year had engaged in any type of criminal activity, and for the most part that activity involved driving offenses, such as driving with a suspended license or without a license. A staggering 80 percent of those deported committed only civil immigration offenses, rather than criminal. In addition, many of those deported are the parents of U.S. citizens and the primary earners in the household, creating a devastating issue for their families left behind.
But what harm will waiting an additional two to three months cause? It will inflict serious, life-changing harm on the multitude of individuals who will be deported in the meantime and perhaps permanently separated from their loved ones. In the past 11 months, immigration judges have ordered 82,878 individuals to be deported. This amounts to roughly 7,534 deportations a month. Therefore, by waiting another two months, a jaw-dropping additional 15,068 people will be deported.
Take the case of Pedro Hernandez-Ramirez. A Mexican national married to a U.S. citizen and father to three stepchildren (one of whom suffers from severe cerebral palsy) and one biological son, Hernandez-Ramirez has lived in this country for more than a decade. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has now advised him that he will be deported. Hernandez-Ramirez, employed in nurseries, is the breadwinner in the household. He is also the only one in his family who can physically lift and care for his 25-year-old disabled stepson. Another Mexican immigrant facing imminent deportation is Nora Galvez, the mother of an 8-year-old U.S. citizen son. Galvez makes a living doing what most Americans wont do picking and packing apples. She was apprehended by ICE during a routine traffic stop. For Noras son and Pedros family, a two-month delay will, at minimum, cause lifelong trauma, and may even prove fatal.
The fact is that many of the individuals illegally in the country hold jobs that need to be filled but that no U.S. workers will take or would want. Imagine if everyone who is illegally in the U.S. stopped working today. Our country would collapse. Crops would rot in the fields. Americans would have to pay $10 for a head of lettuce. Homes would not be built. American parents would not be able to work because their children and elderly parents would have no one to care for them.
Despite the presidents assertions that ICE will focus on priority cases such as foreigners convicted of serious crimes or caught crossing the border illegally, many foreign nationals who do not fit within these priorities and who would most certainly benefit from administrative reform will undoubtedly be deported within in the next several months because of the presidents delay.
Obama must reinforce that, given its limited resources, ICE must strategically target those who pose a threat to the security of the U.S. or have been convicted of serious criminal offenses, not mere civil immigration violators. It certainly makes no sense to use our governments limited resources to deport immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who pose no threat to the security of this country, and hurt their families chances of survival by leaving.
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Commentary: Dire consequences of delayed immigration reform