The subject of illegal immigrants is a touchy one in this country, and it’s only promising to get much more heated as ICE officials continue to conduct raids and aggressively deporting people. Arguments are made on a daily basis for and against immigrants - illegal or not - so I’ll let it stand at that, as this post is not meant as an argument for either side.
No matter where you stand on the issue, I hope you can agree with me that at the very least, illegal immigrants - like everyone else - deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Or at least, they should be allowed to make sure their children are safe and with a trusted adult before they’re hauled off into a detention center or sent back to their native country.
There is a front-page story in today’s Miami Herald that shares the story of a Mexican couple who was here illegally. During a traffic stop, it was discovered that they were here illegally and were taken to a detention center in the next county. The couple has an 11-year-old son who was in school at the time the parents were detained, and while there was an uncle who also cared for him, on the day his parents were detained, he came home from school with no knowledge of what had happened and remained alone in his house until his uncle could come for him. Immigration advocates have been caring for the boy while the uncle works and while they work to reunite him with his parents in Mexico.
In this case, the parents told immigration officials that the child was in custody of the relative, so they may be guilty of miscommunicating the facts. But there have been reports of raids in other parts of the country where ICE officials have apprehended illegal immigrants and detained them without considering their children.
One specific instance occurred in New Bedford, MA, where ICE detained hundreds of factory workers, and their children were left stranded alone at home or in daycare (and these children, I will point out, are in the vast majority U.S.-born, and therefore due all the protections and due processes afforded citizens).
Something has to change in this detention/deportation process so that children are not left alone and in the dark. Despite the fact that their parents are here illegally, I don’t think there’s any excuse for leaving children alone, dependent on neighbors or immigration advocates (or, as in the case in Miami, the Mexican Consulate) to care for them and worry about their future. I find this so disturbing and worrisome. How can this issue be addressed and resolved?
(And on an interesting side note, a number of these raids have been done on naturalized or U.S.-born Hispanics, which calls to mind a whole other host of issues (and these issues, among them the way these raids are being carried out, are thankfully receiving wide media attention). I am a U.S.-born Hispanic; my parents are exiles on top of being immigrants. And I can tell you, if this were done to me, I’d go crazy on ICE’s butt and make a very big deal out of it, to say the least!)
Further reading:
No Need for a Warrant, You’re an Immigrant
It’s all over but the shouting
Immigration arrests spark controversy from coast to coast
