Deporting Parents
Children of Illegal Aliens
By Daniel Muniz

Now that real debate about illegal immigration has been ignited in Congress, enforcement of our lax immigration laws has finally begun to intensify. The new effort is being welcomed by immigration reformers because illegal aliens have taken advantage of our permissive legal system to circumvent the laws for far too long.

Consequently, there is newfound concern and alarm among millions of illegal immigrants because they now fear that this time they can possibly be deported even though in the past, they already knew full well that they were breaking the law. For decades, enforcement was limited strictly to the border and it was practically non-existent inside the country. Once an illegal alien made it over, he or she really didn’t have much to worry about including arrest. In fact, an illegal immigrant had to be arrested at least six times before he or she would be prosecuted.

However, all of that has changed.

Illegal immigration has caused severe problems in the United States. It is depressing wages for many industries and straining the resources of many governmental entities because they are required by federal law to subsidize or pay for the education and health care of illegal immigrants.

With the attention focused on increased enforcement, this backlash is reaching a crescendo. The public outcry has brought media attention to this issue which means that it will not stay hidden under the rug any longer.

As a result of this pressure, the advocates of illegal immigration opted to open up a new front in the court of public opinion by trotting out the children of illegal aliens and bringing them to Capitol Hill. They are hoping that in tugging the heartstrings Americans they can turn illegal immigration into an emotional issue and gain leverage in this debate that paves the way for legalization.

Their ruse is simple.

Explain how these kids are being ripped apart from their parents because of our deportation laws. Toss in a few sensational stories about how it feels like to be a youngster all alone in a foreign country and then ask how any American parent would react if they were separated from their children. The most emotional stories are the ones in which a child runs to lock the doors and windows in fear that someone is going to haul away their parents.

These arguments are pathetic because they completely avoid the fact that our laws are being broken and that personal responsibility from parents is not being exercised. These children are not being victimized by our government. It is their parents who have taken it upon themselves to break the laws of the country that they are living in. If people didn’t break the law in the first place, then they wouldn’t be targeted for arrest and deportation.

Although the kids must suffer through the consequences of their parent’s decisions, our laws, just like the laws of any nation, must still be respected and obeyed. Yes, it is tragic whenever a child is separated by their parents regardless of the circumstance. No one can disagree with that.

However, these situations are the result of the bad decisions that are made by these parents. There is absolutely nothing that entitles people to break the law. As a result, there is a punishment that has to be faced.

Unfortunately, there are many illegal immigration advocates who do feel that our legal system can be flouted with impunity and that anyone has to right to bend the rules.

Yes, there is a humanitarian issue involved. Billions of people on this planet live in abject poverty but the United States didn’t create the poor living conditions. Many countries have corrupt regimes and insane bureaucracies that stifle economic growth which perpetuates the problem of poverty. The source of the problem has to be fixed instead of moving the problem across our borders. Either way, it is still no justification to break our laws since there are already millions of people who do play by the rules on a day to day basis.

As time goes on, there will be more raids.

More places of employment are being targeted especially since an overwhelming number of illegal aliens are resorting to identity theft in order to use someone else’s identification to secure employment. In the past, it was easy to use false pretenses for employment (which also ruined someone’s credit and tax situation) but now it has become more difficult to get away with it. The result is that more and more illegal aliens are going to get arrested and deported. That invariably means that more children are going to be impacted.

Today, these enforcement efforts are actually miniscule but all that could change if Congress continues to get more serious with illegal immigration and if the Justice Department forgoes its catch and release program, then many more illegal aliens will be prosecuted. And if more resources of money and staff are diverted to this problem, then there would be a dramatic improvement in enforcement.

If the people who are in this country illegally are truly concerned about the implications this may have to their children, then perhaps now is the time to seriously consider the radical idea of actually following the law. Millions of other people have already done so and they have become legal resident aliens or naturalized citizens. Imagine that. Obeying the law allows you to stay in this country legally.

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