Recent moves by the Trump administration to deliver on his promise to enforce our immigration laws appear to be causing some trepidation among some perhaps well-intentioned but absolutely ill-advised Republicans.
This issue has been brought to the forefront recently because of the wide media coverage of Kelly Yu, an illegal alien from China residing in the Phoenix metro area, who is facing likely deportation.
Ms. Yu could have avoided this if 20+ years ago she would have obeyed the deportation order that was issued to her. Better yet, she should not have crossed our southern border illegally. Instead, she chose to remain in the U. S. and engage in a lengthy and expensive legal battle, challenging her deportation order, that she was not qualified to win. Now that she has exhausted all legal options, many years later, it is time for her to leave.
The reasons for opposing most deportations tend to fall in two categories.
The first reason given is that these are law-abiding (except for immigration laws) individuals who have been here in some cases upwards of 20 years, raised families, paid taxes, and generally contributed to our societal wellbeing. But, is that not what is expected of everyone? Is that not what most legal aliens and citizens do?
Good behavior should not be a reason to award a lawful presence status that would not exist otherwise.
The second reason given is that enforcing immigration laws would break up families. Those who use this argument go on to vilify Republicans for allegedly violating their own family values.
In a recent article concerning the Kelly Yu case, Sen. Ruben Gallego is quoted as having stated, “If we’re a country that values families, why are we separating families?” That question comes up quite often as a defense against the deportation of illegal aliens.
In fact, this writer experienced the argument of family separation several years ago, during a Q&A following an immigration debate at which the late Alberto Gutier and I, both legal immigrants, presented the legal immigrants’ point of view.
My answer was that families need not be separated. They can all go back to where they came from together. Since the audience was hostile to begin with, it is not surprising that the ensuing sound of boos and grunts was deafening.