The Declaration of Independence says “ . . . That all men are created equal, That they are endowed by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, That among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The U.S. wanted their own rights and be able to become independent. Now they are taking away a man’s right because of immigration. Immigration has risen to be a big issue and is one of our government’s primary issues. These deportation methods should be revised because the steps the government is taking is brutal, many are affected by them, and there are other solutions that we can take.
Immigrants are not given a chance, because they are immediately detained when they are found. Immigration is, “the formal removal of an alien from the United States when the alien has been found removable for violating the immigration laws” (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services). When they are caught by a local police officer, they have to stay in jail for two business days; at that time, immigration is supposed to come pick them up, if not then they are released. The TRAC organization states that an immigrant is deported regardless of “their immigration status, how long they have lived in the U.S. or had any legal immigration status the existence of immediate family members who are U.S. citizens the strength of their ties to the community.” If they are caught by Immigration directly, then they go to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention Center and Removal office. At this place you get fingerprinted, interviewed and then are assigned a deportation officer. From that point, immigrants can no longer go home and have to stay at an immigration detention center or a local jail. This place isn’t permanent because you may be transferred to other jails at any time. Not only that, the cells that immigrants are put into “are in crowded cells and are without drinking water” and there’s also no “changes of clothing or sanitary napkins (National Immigration Law Center). Depending on their court case, they can take up to years in the cells. They are treated just like criminals, only criminals have rights whereas immigrants don’t.
Any family members and friends of the immigrants are affected when he or she is detained. Immigration does not give any mercy to undocumented people and take them in as if they were criminals, disregarding anyone else’s feelings. I interviewed Paralegal Eduardo Silva and asked what his opinions were about the U.S. deportation on immigrants. He said, “I believe that the immigration deportation is inhumane. It’s unfair to separate the parents from their children. The immigrants are attacked crucially just because the U.S. has a broken immigration law.” I have been in this situation of having a loved one taken away from you. My mother was a housewife who has been living in the U.S. for over twenty years. In the fall of 2007, immigration officers detained her. I wasn’t home then, but my brother, who was eight at the time, was home and saw the officers come into the house, and take my mother away as if she was a criminal. Not only was my brother, sister and I left without a mother, everyone in the family was traumatized. Immigration is oblivious to the fact that immigrants have families. They are so focused in getting rid of people who are undocumented that they don’t consider the effects it has on others. In an interview done by The National Immigration Justice Center Immigrants, an immigrant who was detained said [when she first arrived in the U.S]. “At last I was in heaven, but it was really the opposite.” She had her baby of one year taken away from her when she was detained. Immigrants are people too, who want a chance at a better life, but the U.S. government doesn’t allow that and disregards the emotions of others.
