I'm talking about the children.
Fact is, a nine-month old child born in New Bedford to an illegal immigrant is just as much an American as my nine-month old son born in Lowell to parents who can trace their American heritage back to the 1630s.
So what happens to that nine-month old American citizen when his mother is rounded up at work, driven to an internment camp, and readied for deportation? Well, I guess we're going to find out:
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. --Dozens of young children were stranded at schools and with baby-sitters after their parents were rounded up by federal authorities who raided a leather goods maker suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, authorities said Wednesday....I can't imagine the fear and panic those children must be experiencing. When I was of school age, if my mother or father never came to school to pick me up, I'd have been scared to death. It probably will take those kids a long time to get over that fear.
As a result, about 100 children were stuck with baby sitters, caretakers and others, said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts....
”I’m not saying there won’t be children whose parents are detained and removed, but I am saying that every effort is going to be made to ensure no child is going to be put in jeopardy because of the removal,” [Marc Raimondi, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement] said.
Not to mention what the parents must be feeling. Imagine officers showing up at your workplace tomorrow cuffing you, putting you in a bus with no windows, and shipping you off to a former Army base to spend the night without your kids.
But beyond that, what do you do with those young U.S. citizens who have been separated from their parents? Seems to me that there are only a couple of options: either we deport Americans in order to keep them with their parents, or we make orphans of them and let the state raise them.
Those aren't very good options.
Which is why I'm in favor of some sort of a plan which allows illegal immigrants--especially those who are parents of American citizens too young to take care of themselves--a path to citizenship or other legal status.
If we want to find a way to keep illegal immigrants out of the country in the first place, go for it (For what it's worth, I think there are a lot of other issues more important than this one). But forcing American children to either leave the country or become orphans is unacceptable and immoral.
Tags: Massachusetts Immigration Children
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