Immigration Advocate: “Ssssh! You’ll scare the immigration violators!”



Without immigration reform, even those here legally are in danger of deportation,” says Cheryl Little, the Executive Director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, in an op-ed piece recently published by the Miami Herald.

According to Little, “The government is chipping away at fundamental laws and policies that protect immigrants’ basic rights.” She claims that foreigners in the United States are subject to a “systemic dismantling of immigrants’ due-process rights, much of which is occurring under the radar.”

Little’s assertions are utterly ridiculous. And she only seems to be able to support them with preposterous anecdotal claims, like the following “… innocent children are especially vulnerable, afraid to go to school because their loved ones may not be home when they return.”

But those claims aren’t borne out by what average Americans see in the news each day:

  • DACA recipients chain themselves to congressional representatives’ desks demanding that they be given amnesty.
  • Entire communities of illegal aliens overtly protest, carrying signs that say, “I am illegal and here to stay.”
  • And, demonstrating that they truly have no fear, immigrant groups have begun physically interfering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to arrest and remove immigration violators.

As a result, no rational observer actually believes that immigrants – whether here lawfully or illegally – are afraid of the Department of Homeland Security.

The fact is, Little has gotten the issue exactly backwards. Over the past four decades, the biggest problem with American immigration law has been various presidents’ willingness to ignore large sections of it in order to pander to political constituencies.

But even when our immigration laws are vigorously enforced, nobody can claim that our system is “unfair.” All deportable foreigners, including the most vile illegal alien felons – murderers, rapists, child molesters – get a full and fair hearing in Immigration Court. In fact, in the vast majority of cases, it seems as though “it ain’t over until the alien wins.”

American immigration laws don’t need to be reformed, they just need to be restored and followed. Fortunately the Trump administration sees itself as duty bound to enforce the laws of the United States, as written by Congress – rather than placating the immigration violator constituency and their lawyers. And that’s exactly as it should be.

About Author

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Matthew J. O’Brien joined the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in 2016. Matt is responsible for managing FAIR’s research activities. He also writes content for FAIR’s website and publications. Over the past twenty years he has held a wide variety of positions focusing on immigration issues, both in government and in the private sector. Immediately prior to joining FAIR Matt served as the Chief of the National Security Division (NSD) within the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where he was responsible for formulating and implementing procedures to protect the legal immigration system from terrorists, foreign intelligence operatives, and other national security threats. He has also held positions as the Chief of the FDNS Policy and Program Development Unit, as the Chief of the FDNS EB-5 Division, as Assistant Chief Counsel with U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, as a Senior Advisor to the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and as a District Adjudications Officer with the legacy Immigration & Naturalization Service. In addition, Matt has extensive experience as a private bar attorney. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in French from the Johns Hopkins University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maine School of Law.

7 Comments

  1. Pingback: Cognitive Dissonance Still Drives the Immigration Debate | ImmigrationReform.com

  2. avatar

    She is so deluded. Unfortunately, one of our biggest problems related to deportation is that we have, foolishly, awarded these foreigners in our country illegally and, therefore criminals, the very same rights and privileges of American citizens. As a result, we spend billions of dollars we don’t have on allowing/helping these foreigners use our very own legal system against us by providing them with lawyers and court hearings which seem to go on for years (while we continue to support them 24/7) and often result in releasing them back into our country. All of this foolishness, as well as our refusal to properly guard our own borders, just reinforces the wotld’s view thst America is weak, foolish, afraid and easily manipilated. So, the rest of the world exploits the USA left and right and we just take it all with a big smile and a few more billion dollars. I love my country but am thoroughly ashamed and disgusted with the leaders that have worked for 30 years to destroy this once great bation.

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  5. avatar

    What’s unbelievable is that she writes “While immigration laws and policies were often unduly harsh under both Bush and Obama..”. Who is she kidding. Obama’s policy was to use “prosecutorial discretion” to close every case that did not involve serious felonies. Your chances of being removed from the country if you were here more than a couple months were zero.

    And Obama’s “record” deportation numbers were as phony as he was. As he himself admitted in an interview in October 2011 : “The statistics are actually a little deceptive”, going on to explain that people caught “at the border” were “counted as a deportation even though they may have only been held for a day or 48 hours.” A deportation before was always a removal from the interior of the country.

    Hillary would have continued those policies because she vowed to only deport those who committed a “violent felony”. As usual, Little calls for “immigration reform”. By which she means more amnesty, no removals by ICE and massive legal immigration. She’s just another person cashing a paycheck by helping to flood this country with the citizens of other countries.

  6. avatar
    VivaLaMigra on

    Where is the evidence that even President Trump is “enforc[ing] the laws…as written by Congress…”? I see illegal aliens spitting on the laws.

    • avatar

      You cannot imagine what’s happening in South Florida! Or should I say ALL OF FLORIDA!