Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy New Years! Happy to be home for the holidays! But wait…. instead of being able to be reunited with loved ones people are faced with deportation. Wow what a Christmas miracle!
If you couldn’t tell, I was being ironic. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to be with their families during the holiday season due to Trump’s Administration embracing the bill, R.A.I.S.E. (Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy). The bill is meant to raise American wages by ending chain migration and by reducing the amount of Green Cards by 50%, yet, the bill ultimately fails to address an important aspect of deportation… the human within the statistics of “illegal aliens.”
This holiday, we want to be able to celebrate the end of the decade with loved ones, but in order to do that our community must rise up against the tyranny occurring in our backyards. Instead of Santa Claus, children catch a sight of I.C.E. in front of their homes. Instead of Santa quietly sneaking in and stealing cookies, children are faced with the disruption of I.C.E. barging in their homes and taking their parents away. Instead of tears of joy, the community is encountered with tears of sorrow.
In the fiscal year of 2018 more than 256,000 people were deported. According to the Washington Post, “I.C.E. said that 2,711 who were traveling in families and 5,571 unaccompanied children were removed from U.S. soil.” With the end of 2019 arriving, we can only hope that the amount of families separated decrease.
With a large number of students at Poly being first generation Americans, this situation hits close to home. As opposed to former president, Barack Obama, who only deported immigrants convicted of serious crimes, Mr. Trump wants more rigid policies that would break up families.
Peoples aren’t only deported for coming to America illegally but even legal immigrants are being deported if they have committed a numerous amount of misdemeanors, not accounting for how long ago it occurred and whether the person has changed or not. The measures that have been taken to deport family members away are unjust and some of the immigrants being deported are refugees who came into this country not knowing much. As a result, they were destined to suffer in this failed system called America, the land of the free! Family members and immigrants shouldn’t suffer from a failed system that is not set up to assimilate refugees and immigrants.
In order to stay safe this holiday, you should know your rights. I highly suggest you search up a know your rights card and if an I.C.E. officer does try to instigate a situation show them the card and attain a lawyer. Remember you have the right to remain silent during this holiday season.
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