Leaving no room to breathe, President Donald Trump has signed numerous executive orders attempting to keep the promises he made during his campaign for president only days after his inauguration. While many of his supporters are eager to see him complete his promises, the actions Trump is taking to complete them is not fair to a majority of the people in the United States. One of the more concerning promises is his promise of the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Trump has made enormous changes to the U.S. immigration system since his presidency started, including giving the Immigration and Customs Enforcement less restriction, therefore, allowing them more movement in the process of detaining undocumented people. Their employment has removed over 1,000 people on Jan. 23, just four days after Trump’s inauguration.
“I think that if the people were here illegally then Trump has the legal standing for what he’s doing so I would say it’s fair. But there’s some questions on the humanitarian factors. Maybe asking if the method used to deport them is fair. I hear about how apparently they get whisked away in whatever plane, and they’re not given enough water or food so that raises concerns on their rights as humans, so I don’t agree with the method that is being used,” junior Alexander Ridoux said.
Trump’s reasoning behind this mass deportation is that illegal immigrants are criminals who are threatening public safety. A small percentage of these undocumented immigrants may be criminals but a claim as assertive as Trump’s can only be perceived as racist and threatening to immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for a long time and formed their new lives there.
“This is bad ,because Trump’s indiscriminately deporting all illegal immigrants and not just ones who have committed a crime either in their home country or in the United States. It’s also definitely hurting a lot of families and displacing them,” sophomore Olivia Simon said.
Many of these immigrants have come through the U.S. under the protection of different programs. However, the Trump administration has made moves to end these programs. What Trump does not realize is that 40 percent of what he claims are undocumented immigrants are actually under protection but since they are ending these immigrants have no time to aim for a citizenship or another kind of protection to prevent them from being deported.
What the system does not keep in mind is the immigrants who are in the process of attaining citizenship either. Getting an application processed for naturalization takes six to nine months. This leaves these immigrants with no control over whether they are placed in the group of “undocumented” immigrants or not in the eyes of Trump’s administration.
In a CBS exclusive, a man claimed that his wife was taken by agents from ICE in Florida. She was in the process of getting her citizenship when the agents unexpectedly dropped by in a raid, taking her away. Situations like this are occurring all over the U.S. and simply because of a misguided reasoning.
“I think its a little bit extreme and violent, I think that it’s also not the smartest because from the basis of our economy, a lot of the immigrants do a lot of the baseline work, doing jobs that others wouldn’t want to do. So when you’re taking all of these people out, you’re taking away jobs that others won’t do but are still necessary,” junior Elizabeth Hardie said.
Deportations such as this are not special to the Trump administration, however, with Biden and Obama deporting 1.5 million and 2.9 million immigrants respectively during their terms as president. However, Trump is paving the way to deport more than these president, on top of a reasoning that threatens immigrants everywhere and is entirely flawed.
The U.S. is meant to be a country full of opportunities, for immigrants included who want to get away from their countries and start a new life here. Instead a wave of fear is spreading as people stress about who will be taken next, from friends to family, immigrants who do not deserve this treatment are being forced away from their lives.
“I think it’s unfair to deport these immigrants because America has a lot of opportunities that there people are trying to come take advantage of but not in a bad way. They also help support our economy, doing the work no one else wants to do. They’re just seeking better opportunities for them and their family,” junior William Hardie said.
Some organizations are doing their best to help by spreading tips to immigrants who are in fear of deportation, but this is not enough to help them. Having ICE target any undocumented immigrant in the country is not the way to go. Not only does Trump’s reasoning not make any sense, but it is hurting communities, the administration should pause and consider the harm they are causing before violently ripping apart families and ridding people of the lives they have made in the U.S.
