Week 7 - Andy Ho - A03

Today, illegal immigration is one of the alarming problems that the U.S. is facing. This week’s reading The criminalization of immigration and the privatization of the immigration detention: implication for justice is quite thoughtful and detailed. Throughout the history of the USA, immigration has turned from a “problem” to its criminalization. For instance, “Alabama’s law makes it a felony for undocumented persons to seek a driver’s or business license.” (Ackerman 3) Ever since Donald Trump became the president of the United States in 2016, he implemented a series of actions to deport illegal immigrants and stop them from coming to America. According to Reuters, the number of illegal aliens arrested under the Trump administration continued to rise in 2018 as ICE arrested 158,581 undocumented immigrants in 2018. Moreover, in January 2017, Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim countries created chaos at that time. President Trump also plans on terminating DACA or ending chain immigration. While on the surface, illegal immigrants are a problem for this country since they take up spaces in hospitals, schools, and prisons. Some even don’t have to pay taxes. However, without them, who will do the hard labor jobs that nobody wants to do such as landscaping, cleaning, gardening, and so on. Without them, our country will lack diversity which is the signature of the USA. Furthermore, the reading also specified an increase in immigration detention centers in recent years. From my perspective, those detention centers will have negative effects on children of illegal immigrants. They will be held in those centers and thus suffer the lack of proper education, care, nurturing from their parents. They may also be stigmatized as illegal immigrants. Consequently, when they grow up, they are not likely to succeed in life or they may end up in prisons. As one of the most powerful nations, I think the U.S. should show its empathy and its humanity to those children.

Question:  Is illegal immigration necessarily an evil thing? Why or why not?

Reference:

Ackerman, A. R. and Furman, R. (2013). The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice.

Torbati, Y. (2018). ICE arrests of immigrants in U.S. illegally highest since 2014: Agency. Retrieved February 17, 2019.

Picture retrieved from "https://www.thoughtco.com/humorous-memes-and-cartoons-immigration-reform-2734402"