IN THE NEWS: On Wednesday, August 7th, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency arrest about 680 undocumented workers. Teams showed up everywhere from homes and jobs, to schools where parents where dropping their children off for the first day of school. While many were released by the end of the day, others are now on their way to their home country (even if they’ve never been there before) and forced to pick up the pieces of their lives where they feel on that fateful day. Children have been displaced and there are, inevitably, more sweeps on the way.
IN MY OPINION: This is one of the most disgusting eras of American history. There used to be some sort of gentleman law — human moral code— where people would respect children. The dream is over. I admit it, my mother came to this country for the purpose of. having her children and giving us a better life. One of the main reasons people come to the United States is for education. Even if you had nothing else… even if you had to scrub floors for the rest of your life, the least you could do was send your children to school. While this might have been a brilliant tactic by the evil minds at ICE, this event probably psychologically traumatized so many people — children, mostly. How does America expect to ply the role of a global leader, when this is what we’re doing to the children of our neighbors?
As a first generation American and daughter of a victim to the immigration system, I can tell you that nothing compares to the fear of having people in suits show u at your door and the your parents away for (no true) reason at all. Most of the people arrested were arrest for stepping onto this soil without permission. They were picked up while bringing their children to school, or while tending to their (mostly) low-paying, strenuous jobs.
I’ve never been more disappointed in the American system than I am today. It makes me sick — my heart literally hurts — to see photos of children held in decoration camps. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I’m sure this isn’t it. I’m not sure why we treat “others” like animals. I wonder how the world would react if countries started rounding up Americans, putting them in prisons and shipping them out… Do you wonder?
EllaThought 