Communities on U.S. borders are being attacked by
their own government. Immigrants are living under a reign of terror with
deportation to a foreign country being a constantly present danger. Even those in immigrant communities who are
under no legal threat of deportation are threatened. Their neighbors, spouses,
family members, coworkers, and friends
are being taken from their homes and
dropped across the border with no hope of return.
In the current budget fight the White House has
demanded that an increase of 33 billion dollars in funding for anti-immigrant
measures be included as a part of the DREAM act. The DREAM act (Development,
Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) would grant legal status to immigrants
who came to the United States as children. 18 Billion dollars of this funding
increase would be spent on the border wall and the rest on further terrorizing
immigrant communities. These demands are unacceptable. They would hurt immigrant communities while
doing nothing to create a just immigration process. If Trump’s version of the DREAM
act passes, immigrants in this country will face increased arbitrary harassment
by hostile federal agencies.
The White House’s demands released last October
include deporting children seeking asylum, easing the requirements for
deportations, expanding ICE’s (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) authority,
allowing state governments to enforce immigration laws and protecting those
state governments from being sued after deporting and detaining immigrants. Even more outrageous demands are included in
their list of priorities. Republican
Congressmen justify these brutal proposals by saying that they are necessary
for national security including the need to fight gangs like MS-13. They further
justify their proposals for mass deportations by saying that those who became
refugees in this country did so by abusing loopholes. These measures will not make
the U.S. safer.
What these measures will do is drastically militarize our
society. The border itself will be more heavily patrolled; the Trump
administration wants to add 5000 Border Patrol agents. These agents will be
unleashed on immigrant communities, where they will do tremendous harm. A 2014 study of the Border Patrol called “No
Action Taken”, written by the American Immigration Council found that 97
percent of complaints against agents resulted in no punishment for the agent (Martinez, Cantor, and Ewing 2014).
These sorts of abuses will also happen away from the border. The Republican
administration demands that 10,000 additional ICE officers be hired to enforce
new laws. Even more alarming is the demand that local law enforcement be
included in immigration enforcement. The Trump administration wants to
authorize state and local governments to pass laws that allow them to cooperate
with federal agencies. The administration also wants to incentivize local
governments to enter into immigration enforcement agreements with the federal
government. Texas and at least
twenty-three other Republican led states
and numerous cities already do this. The
Trump administration did not mention what incentives they were planning to
offer. Their most worrying demand is that local law enforcement be granted the
same immunity afforded to federal law enforcement in immigration matters. There are over a million law
enforcement officers in the U.S.. If they are allowed to collaborate with ICE, immigrants
in America will be in nearly constant danger. [CD1] [M2]
The major increase in enforcement efforts will shatter
communities across this country by making it too risky for many immigrants to engage with civil society. If law enforcement is seen as collaborating
with ICE, contact with the police, already extremely dangerous, will need to be
avoided at all costs by immigrants. Under such circumstances, it is difficult
to establish trust between immigrant communities and the law. To prevent this loss of trust, California and more than 200 cities and counties have
declared themselves as sanctuaries from such assaults, however the Trump Administration
proposes to withhold federal funds from such localities. The Trump
administration has already tried to withhold funds from sanctuary cities.
Chicago almost lost 2 million dollars of federal funding. A federal judge issued
a temporary injunction last September which restored funding to sanctuary
cities. If the administration gains the right to cancel grants to sanctuary cities
as part of the budget negotiations ,
many communities will be severely harmed.
We Need a Clean Dream Act
Instead of acceding to the demands of the Republican
administration, Congress must reform immigration with the goal of making it
possible for America’s immigrant communities to participate in wider society. Hundreds
of thousands of people receive a precarious legal status thanks to programs
like TPS (Temporary Protected Status). Already, the Trump administration
refused to renew TPS for countries like Haiti and El Salvador. Those who have some
protection in this country because of TPS should be granted permanent legal
status and ultimately citizenship. Refugees and immigrants who came to this
country as minors must be granted permanent residence and a path to citizenship.
A clean DREAM act is needed. These
people must not be separated from their families. What the Republican
administration calls chain migration are the current law on family preferences that
brings families together. Family based immigration sponsorship should be
maintained. This is only part of what needs to be done to make the American
immigration process just.
Comprehensive immigration reform would also include a
radical change in how immigration laws are enforced. The current system where
the law is enforced by lawless organizations like ICE and the Border Patrol is
unacceptable. These agencies have proven themselves incapable of fighting
organized crime. Instead, they have primarily succeeded in terrorizing peaceful
immigrants, many who came to America to flee terrible conditions created or
exacerbated by U.S. foreign policy. Even
deporting immigrants with criminal records is counterproductive.
Immigration reform is desperately needed. Dreamers and
TPS recipients need their legal status maintained and millions more need legal
protection. It should be possible for those millions of immigrants working in
this country to gain a route to legalization and citizenship. Instead, the Trump White House demands a
border wall, more ICE, more border guards, and even less legal protection for
immigrants. These Republican demands have produced a government shutdown. They must not be included in the DREAM act or
other legislation.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and unions
must work with other progressives to defeat the white nationalist agenda of the
Trump administration.
Duane Campbell – Co Chair Immigrants’ Rights Committee
Activist X, member of the Immigrants’ Rights Committee
(name not disclosed due to a well founded fear of
persecution and retribution by ICE.
Individually signed posts do not necessarily reflect
the views of DSA as an organization or its leadership. Democratic Left blog
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