In recent days immigration advocates have been vociferously championing the cause of allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the country and fighting for the reunification of their families. I think it is important to treat illegals humanely and such considerations are justified. But what about those who have legally attained residency status but whose basic human rights are trampled upon as if they were illegals. I refer to the mass deportation of green card holders.
The changes to the immigration law in 1996 vastly expanded the crimes that fall into the category of 'aggravated felonies.' Prior to 1996 this description was limited to crimes involving murder and drug trafficking. Under current law any crime for which an individual serves a year in jail makes a legal immigrant eligible for deportation.
Advocates have been fighting to give green card holders who commit minor offences a chance to stay in the country but I am advocating for the more wretched. Those who came here as children and committed felonies, including those who were tried as adults. These young people have been written off by the system and viewed as incorrigible.
The Dream Act specifically excluded these young people from ever having a second chance at a full, productive and meaningful life in the United States. Will some of them continue to offend? Absolutely. But there are many who, if given a chance to join an intervention program would be able to turn their lives around and contribute to society in a meaningful way while continuing to stay with their loved ones.
Human come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us adapt to societies rules and some of us have more challenges based on our upbringing and individual circumstances. Some are genetically wired with emotional challenges and many of them run afoul of the the law. But for a young green card holder theses bad decisions are catastrophic.
Current immigration law is written as if human are not inherently flawed. Being an immigrant requires moral purity and if one should turn out to have any human failings or flaws, the consequence is that one is banished from the United States forever.
Under current law they are not entitled to any judicial discretion or legal services. The 'Immigration Court' is merely an administrative process to rubber stamp your deportation papers. In many cases such young people leave their entire immediate families behind and are returned to a country they have never known. They will never be able to return to what they have known as home again and will live in exile for the rest of their lives. I ask you to consider these dreamers too and give them a second chance.
www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/11/why-are-immigrants-being-deported-for-minor-crimes/281622/