On November 2002 with the support of the Bush administration the Homeland Security Act was passed, which set into motion one of the most massive reorganization of our federal law enforcement and Department of Defense. On March 2003 the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement was renamed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or better know by it’s acronym ICE.
ICE was granted powers to better protect our national security in response to the 9/11 attack which it has leveraged in becoming a powerful and sophisticated federal law enforcement agency. ICE is made up of 3 agencies: Bureau of Customers and Boarder Protection, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
For the year of 2003 there were 8 Fugitive Operation Teams which had arrested 1900 illegal aliens and removed 5 of the most wanted by the agency. ICE also launched Operation Predator to protect children from sexual predators.
In 2004 the Fugitive Operation Teams increased to 18 then 26 in 2005. During 2005 the Border Enforcement Security Task Force was created. In September 2007 ICE implements the electronic travel document system, which reduced the amount of time required for partner countries to issue a travel document.
By 2012 under the Obama administration the Fugitive Operation Teams increased to 129 teams. ICE during the Bush and the Obama administrations had directives to identify and remove illegals who were criminals participating in human trafficking, drug cartel activity as well as exploitation of children.
In contrast to the above ICE is not only securing our country from illegal resident criminals but also targeting those who are law abiding individuals who want to be citizens of the United States. The question that arises is when did massive deportation become a directive and why is a segment of the population viewing illegal immigrants as an invasion force instead of individuals seeking the American dream.
During the Bush administration, the president himself advocated for not only amnesty but a path for citizenship for illegals who were here working and seeking a better life for their family. Unfortunately, you had individuals like Pat Buchanan who opposed the president and advocated for total removal of illegal residents from the country. This opposition became a rallying cry used by alt right shock radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck to scare a segment of the population into believing that illegal immigrants were a danger to our national security. The rise of the alt right has been a detriment not only to our country but our democracy which I will explore in another article.
During the Obama administration the directive changed. The focus was not only following directives established under the Bush administration but also massive deportation. When you examine who were the target of the massive deportation, we find it to be recent arrivals. With an increase of detention of the recent arrivals comes the problem of where to detain them, answer privately owned prisons. Which too is another detriment to our country and our democracy which I will explore in another article. While President Obama used an executive order to pass DACA, he failed to push for immigration reforms advocated by President Bush. The failure could be attributed to the rhetoric spewed by the alt right pundits and shock radio hosts.
During the Trump administration the directive changed to detain and deport anyone. This change in directive has led to massive raids and separation of families. It has also increased the rhetoric of portraying Hispanics as rapist, murderers, drug lords and human traffickers.
Currently immigration has become a humanitarian issue. All you need to do is view the hundreds of images of men, women and children separated and detained in facilities with only a futon and a saran wrap looking blanket. Conditions which are not humane. Yet there are those in government including President Trump who believe it is justified.
Programs put in place granting path to citizenship to those illegals willing to serve in our arm forces have also been subject to deportation upon completion of their tour of duty. Given how little has been done to care for our veterans this is not shocking at all. How we have been dismissive of veterans is yet another topic to explore in another article.
Imagine being at home enjoying a Thanksgiving meal with your family, then suddenly someone bust open your front door and someone else bust through the back door of your house. The next image is that of 4 ICE agents in battle amour in front of you and another 4 to the back of you with assault rifles aimed at you. You then are transported to a facility with children screaming and crying. Once at the facility, the men, women and children are separated. How would you feel if that were you?
Imagine you are crammed in a section of the facility with another 200 individuals with only a futon mat with a saran wrap like blanket, having to share limited access to water and bathroom. Would you call this humane? Yet there is a segment of the population in the United States who believe they are deserving of such treatment for residing in this country illegally. In some form or another we all are residing in this country illegally.
Native Americans were here first and they were subject to genocide policies supported by Presidents in this nation’s history. To this day they are contained in reservations, a modern-day form of a detention centers. During world war II we detained anyone of Asian descent in detention centers for fear they were Japanese spies and would undermine our defenses. Every generation has a segment of the population who state they are Christian but believe the policy to be just. I am not sure which bible they have read but the one I have does not advocate for humanity’s inhumanity towards a segment of the population.
Immigration is a humanitarian issue that is easily resolved. We have had republican presidents in the past that created a path for citizenship for many law abiding illegal residents. It is time for the rhetoric to end and solutions to be made. Immigration should not be a dark journey to the American dream. It should be one of Lady Liberty welcoming them to our shores as she has done so often in our nation’s history. She is the true representation of the United States that we are a great melting pot of diverse individuals coming together as one. For in the end we are part of one race, the only race that matters, the human race.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/immigration-stands-as-obamas-most-glaring-failure
Ascension through Enlightenment 