President Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy is not anti-immigrant if a person insists on violating the law, the government’s job is to stop it, that does not seem to be
Last Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted that “ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have unlawfully found their way to the United States. They will be deported as quickly as they enter. “
During the week, the details were filtered, ICE planned to arrest and deport up to 2,000 families of undocumented immigrants as of Sunday, according to media reports, ICE was targeting 10 cities. Miami was on the list.
ICE did not select these families at random. All are families that have received final orders of deportation from a judge and are trying to avoid the consequences of their illegal activity.
In February, ICE sent letters by mail requesting that they appear at an agency office in March. As expected, they did not appear.
If a convicted criminal does not surrender, the police go and arrest him. If members of a family of undocumented immigrants, after spending the day in court, do not turn themselves in, ICE must go and stop them. How is that controversial?
However, the Democrats are treating this as if it were a surprising judicial error.
“Donald Trump’s treatment of those who seek a better life in our country is inhuman,” Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren wrote. “Make no mistake: in a Warren government, we will defend and protect immigrants and their families.”
This is practically an open call in favor of open borders. She is implying that she will “protect” undocumented immigrants from legal orders of deportation.
“President Trump who threatens the mass deportation of immigrants is cruel and anti-American,” Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden wrote. “We can fix our broken immigration system and enforce our laws without neglecting our values.”
Note that Biden does not bother to explain how he would apply the laws differently. ICE has already asked these families to leave after a judge ruled that they should be deported. They refused. What does he suggest, start the next letter with “very strongly with a cherry on top”?
Deporting undocumented immigrants was not always controversial. Think of 2009, when Joe Biden served as vice president of Barack Obama. During Obama’s first term, ICE deported more than 1.5 million undocumented aliens. Trump is below that Obama rate. ICE has deported more than 750,000 undocumented immigrants during Trump’s two and a half years in office.
Last year, The New Yorker titled an article “Donald Trump’s ICE is destroying families.” Does anyone remember similar headlines for Obama, who was even more aggressive with the deportations?
You see the same bias when it comes to detention centers. “The Trump administration will send migrant children to the Army base that was once used as a Japanese internment camp,” said a headline from The Hill.
It is true that Fort Sill was once used as a Japanese internment camp. It was also true in 2014 when Obama moved 1,800 undocumented immigrants, including children, there. The media did not mention that angle.
It is easy to sympathize with a family that wants to come to the United States to have a better life. This country continues to be a land of freedom and opportunity. But one of the things that make the United States great is the rule of law.
If the members of a family come here illegally, they should be deported. Trump is right to instruct ICE to enforce the law.
