“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.