Letters: Crackdown on immigrants exposes our hypocrisy
But suddenly, we realize they are criminals. They are here illegally, so that makes them a criminal? And so, we deport them all, viciously and violently. We terrorize these innocent people and traumatize families and especially children. And let's not forget. We aren't just targeting immigrants here illegally; there has been quite a lot of collateral damage with federal agents picking up people who happen to be brown and might be here illegally.
According to a recent article published in the Tribune (''Worst of worst' pledge far from reality ICE statistics show no criminal record for most detainees,' in print July 15), of the 57,861 people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, '41,495 … had no criminal convictions.' Further, according to ICE, 84% of the detainees were rated as no threat, and only 5% were rated as a high threat.
I don't like to make the counterargument that we need these people in our country to do our dirty work. My stand is that we treat all human beings as human beings. We can't ignore what is happening to these people. They are hardworking folks who harm us in absolutely no way; they add to our productivity and provide much needed services. Our nation is built on the premise that everyone is welcome here. We are a land of immigrants.
And to those who repeat that immigrants need to come through the proper channels like our ancestors did, I say: Then make the quotas fair. Everyone is not equal in the eyes of our immigration laws.If everyone abided by our existing immigration laws, we wouldn't have an immigration crisis. People would come across our border only at official crossings and have their identities checked as they came in. People would not overstay their visas or the amount of time they as tourists are allowed to visit. People would leave when they have a final order of removal. People who want to immigrate would follow the rules we have in place.
People who promote sanctuary cities and states talk about a broken immigration system when the real problem is people breaking our laws. No matter how the laws are changed, there will be those who will not abide by the law.
If laws are not enforced by all levels of government, people will not respect the laws, and problems will continue.The hypocrisy of some in this country is stunning. After a 10-day road trip to the East Coast, passing through red state after red state, I witnessed road construction crews along the interstate highways staffed by dozens of brown men performing work in the sweltering heat. At nearby motels, these exhausted yet polite young men who spoke little to no English awoke in the early hours and quietly ate their breakfast before heading out for another day of back-breaking work on our behalf. The roads they finished were wonderful to drive upon.
When did these hardworking, tax-paying, presumably undocumented workers whom we have seen toiling in our yards, highways, rooftops and construction sites for decades suddenly transform into murderers and rapists? When did we become so short-sighted, callous and cruel? Who do we think will fill their positions after they are deported?
If you don't understand the critical role of undocumented workers in all aspects of our economy and don't want these people in our country, go after the business owners who hire them or the state officials who sign contracts with the lowest-bidding companies reaping financial benefits of low-cost labor.
Wake up to our own hypocrisy. Stop this ridiculous charade of demonizing those just trying to eke out a living for their families who make our lives better. Fix the immigration system and hire more immigration judges who can determine who best belongs in this country.I'm really tired of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement positions promoted in the Tribune. Let me lay out some basics: One, why would ICE target Chicago or other blue cities and states? Answer: because they declared themselves sanctuaries; by definition, that is where immigrants will go. Second, what is the sanctuary being offered? Answer: sanctuary from the law.
What happened to 'no one is above the law'?Has this nation lost its moral compass? Notwithstanding anyone's position on illegal immigration, it's shocking to me why there hasn't been more of a public outcry about the so-called Alligator Alcatraz and countless other federal detention facilities that treat the inmates like rabid dogs.
No human being should be kept in a steaming hot cage with countless other inmates while deprived of proper sanitation and medical care.
Where are our voices?As a fourth-generation American, I am disheartened and fear for this constitutional society and country in which I live. I fear for the freedoms and liberties of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren as I see this current government sow hatred and fear and ridicule any dissent as not being patriotic. Party moderates are ousted or threatened for speaking out for the greater good and for fiscal responsibility for the American people. Truth is ridiculed and despised by those in power. Insurrection at the Capitol is brushed off, and convicted felons are released and pardoned. Our judicial system is attacked when it does not bow down to appease those currently in power.
I feel like a voice in the wilderness hoping that the American people will wake up to this mess we have gotten ourselves into. I am a proud American and love my country, but it is in distress.
It broke my heart, but as a show of protest, I felt it was my patriotic duty to this country to sound the alarm, and I flew the flag upside down for the Fourth of July. I have no regrets. And yes, I am involved in politics as any good American should be.
God bless America and the American people.So Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is taking on the federal government and most directly President Donald Trump on birthright citizenship. Does the saying 'justice is blind' cover the failure of the Illinois attorney general to target the corruption of his Democratic Party colleagues?
We witness a blind eye to Illinois politicians' targeting of Illinois residents as prey. Why?
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The Department of Homeland Security, which administers these centers, admits that fact. 'Detention is non-punitive,' according to ICE. But immigrants in ICE detention centers frequently endure living conditions much worse than people who are incarcerated in American prisons. ICE puts immigrants into dangerous, overcrowded jails, paying local authorities for their care. It sends immigrants to state prisons. And it holds about 90 percent of detainees in facilities run by private prison companies—-whose stock prices have soared since Trump's reelection. The name Alligator Alcatraz suggests that the health and well-being of detainees are not top priorities. Each of the Florida facility's chain-link cages can house 32 men but has only three toilets. Immigrants detained by ICE have been forced to sleep on floors, live in windowless cells, spend a week or more without a shower, and go without medicine for chronic illnesses. ICE can move immigrants to jails or detention centers anywhere in the U.S., regardless of where they were apprehended or where they may have lived for years. During an unannounced visit to the Krome Detention Center in Miami this May, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida found the conditions 'incredibly disturbing.' An attorney for one immigrant detained there said that the daily ration of food was a cup of rice and a glass of water. In June, a group of immigrants at Krome went outside and arranged their bodies into an 'SOS.' The tactics used by ICE agents to arrest immigrants and bring them to detention evoke those of a police state—masked, armed officers raiding churches, farms, schools, garment factories, and Home Depots; appearing by surprise to seize graduate students; separating parents from children; conducting sweeps while on horseback. ICE agents can arrest anybody, without a warrant, based on probable cause that a person is undocumented and may flee. All of these practices may be legal, but they don't inspire faith in the rule of law. The administrative hearings that determine whether an immigrant can remain in the U.S. are similarly out of keeping with traditional democratic norms. Immigrants have no legal right to an attorney in these proceedings, and most never gain access to one. The stakes are extraordinarily high now that the Supreme Court has permitted the deportation of immigrants to distant nations they've never visited before, such as El Salvador and South Sudan. Immigration courts are run by the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security employs the attorneys who make the government's case for deportation. Both the DOJ and the DHS are headed by Cabinet members who report to the president. The Trump administration has imposed quotas on ICE agents to increase apprehensions, and may once again impose quotas on immigration judges to speed the completion of cases. An immigration judge can be removed from a case at the discretion of the federal attorney general. And a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of immigration law no longer seems to be a job requirement. On the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order —'Protecting the American People Against Invasion'—that authorizes state and local officials to serve as federal immigration officials. During Trump's visit to the Everglades detention center, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that 47,000 Florida law-enforcement officers had been deputized to work for ICE. DeSantis has also proposed letting attorneys who serve with the Florida National Guard act as immigration judges. Outside the Everglades facility on its opening day, Enrique Tarrio spoke with a group of reporters. Tarrio is a former leader of the Proud Boys, a neofascist group. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, sentenced to 22 years in prison, pardoned by the president, and praised by Trump during a recent visit to Mar-a-Lago with his mother. Tarrio is now promoting a new app, ICERAID, that offers a cryptocurrency reward to users who help the government locate and arrest undocumented immigrants. 'We didn't vote for cheaper eggs,' Tarrio said in the Everglades. 'We voted for mass deportation, and we voted for retribution.'
