THE VIEW FROM HERE-You may have caught my CityWatch article back in September on the American Immigration issue (it might be worth re-reading). What has caught my attention now is the tangential issue over the immigrant deportation crisis.
This nation (and many others) has had a long history of deporting the “undesirables.” Interestingly enough, it is the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts (ASA) under President John Adams that essentially cost him his re-election.
Their goals sound familiar: “to increase the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years; to authorize the President to imprison or deport aliens considered ‘dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States’; to restrict speech critical of the government.
These laws were designed to silence and weaken the Democratic-Republican Party” [of Thomas Jefferson and the eventual Democratic Party]. These laws were so over-the-top that the stunning blow-back changed the course of human history!
Can you imagine restricting such freedoms today?! Yet we face similar oppositional forces even now: What happens when there is Right-Wing outrage over freedom-of-speech issues regarding Duck Dynasty and a deafening silence over the same freedoms (or lack thereof) from those same people with respect to the Dixie Chicks? The ASA were designed to limit critical speech. We cannot allow such acts to be legislated again.
What happens when a father and/or mother is deported because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) considers them a danger to the security of this country when their only offense is attempting to provide a better life for their family? What is a “clear and present danger” anyway?
What happens when one political party demonizes another for the sole goal of creating a dispassionate, all-powerful oligarchic plutocracy? Let us not allow such obstructionist history to repeat itself.
Although the current immigration deliberations apply to all undocumented individuals in our country, Latinos do make up 60% of that number. The majority of today’s undocumented Latino population indicates it is more important for them to stay in this country legally than to obtain an immediate pathway to citizenship. In that way they can work here to support their families without fear of separation due to deportation.
President Obama always seems to be in a no-win situation. Crack down on the undocumented—get booed from the Left. Be more lenient—get booed from the Right. For this administration to get a reasonable Immigration bill through the current Congress, it has to demonstrate its support for stricter border control and narrower restrictions for obtaining citizenship. The President has made every effort to address these issues with equanimity but seems to satisfy neither side of the debate.
In recent years, there has been greater concentration on deporting those with criminal backgrounds. For some advocates, however, ICE policies have gone to the extreme by broadening what is considered a crime, like attempting to cross the border into America and getting caught too many times. On the other hand, there are those who would claim that ICE is not going far enough and is finding ways to expand loopholes for reducing deportation practices. Both sides of this question obviously view the same actions differently—whatever satisfies their agenda.
As I have stated before, NAFTA and other ill-conceived policies have led to increased poverty and deplorable conditions elsewhere (such as our neighboring countries to the south)—circumstances that practically demand that fathers or entire families flee their desperate conditions to be able to feed, cloth, house, and school their kindred. This reality is what the Administration and Congress are facing. Hopefully, we shall witness positive movement in the new year with regard to immigration, but it will remain a hot-button issue until there is at least a reasonable and fair compromise which can satisfy both sides.
This Administration is, in fact, enacting changes that can be accomplished independent of Congressional approval. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program (whose affected children are called DREAMERS) went into practice last year.
When they were very young, these people arrived in this country (through no fault of their own) with relatives seeking a better way of life. They have grown up here, gone to school here, often speak no other language than English, and consider American their home. It is these young people that bi-partisan Congressional sponsors of the Dream Act are attempting to assist with a pathway to citizenship that allows them in the meantime to continue school and become professionals and, ultimately, enrich our nation with new ideas and additional tax dollars.
Many states (including California) have enacted their own versions of the Dream Act but it remains with the Federal Government to make this and other measures official national policy.
In the meantime, the Los Angeles City Council recently gave its unanimous support for a resolution to be sent to Washington to ask that these pre-emptory deportations be halted until a more compassionate policy can be introduced. Councilmember Gil Cedillo stated: “I respect the legislative process, but when it’s not working, we need executive action and executive leadership.”
Many put the blame directly on President Obama’s shoulders for this immigration debacle, but his reality is that little can be done without Congressional action. With the mid-term elections coming up, though, it might very well be the wise thing to do to resolve this dilemma once and for all. Let’s face it, more blue and red are turning purple, and much of this movement can be attributed to the impact of the Latino vote. No vote should ever be influenced by unreasonable pressure, but viewpoints can change as people become more enlightened.
There are those on the Right who would like to see all of the undocumenteds deported (something that will never happen). Limiting deportations, however, to the truly incorrigible criminal element and developing a broader, progressive policy to deal with the undocumented population must be right at the top of Washington’s to-do list for 2014.
(Rosemary Jenkins is a Democratic activist and chair of the Northeast Valley Green Coalition. Jenkins has written Leticia in Her Wedding Dress and Other Poems, A Quick-and-Easy Reference to Correct Grammar and Composition and Vignettes for Understanding Literary and Related Concepts. She also writes for CityWatch.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 105
Pub: Dec 31, 2013