By Kiana Davis / For The Herald
Approximately 10.5 million undocumented immigrants live in the United States, but soon those people will be displaced back to their country. Deportation as a result split up almost 4.4 million families with kids. President Trump is planning the deportation of illegal immigrants bypassing Congress. He’s doing this using the Alien Enemies Act (A law used in 1789 to deport Venezuelan gang members without due process). Due process makes sure all are treated justly and fairly.
This deportation of immigrants is the wrong approach here. It’s costly in time and money, immigrants are not a large issue for the United States, and the way they’re deporting immigrants refuses them due process.
The problem with deporting all immigrants is that the time and cost are very high to deport everyone. According to the George W. Bush presidential center it estimates that it would take up to 20 years and cost between $100 and $300 billion. Consequently, whatever benefits that could be gained by deportation are outweighed when you see how much taxpayer dollars would go to this, and taxes would increase to fund the deportation. People being forced out of the country immigration officers may apprehend people that are here legally. People normally don’t carry their papers with them and who knows when if they get to show proof of citizenship in custody. With this in mind it’s clear that deportation is going to be costly in the long run, and is it worth it for the United States?
Another point is that immigration is not a major issue for the United States. As reported by Ava Morgsteine only 3.6% of the world’s population is migrants and only 18% of those people still chose to go to the United States. Most of the immigrants here have come years or even decades past. Now this brings up the question, why is it seen as such a large problem in the media? The answer is politicians. Politicians often whip up anti-immigrant feelings and make the population feel like their taking American jobs. The number of jobs that immigrants are taking aren’t actively affecting most people and there are equal opportunities for both immigrants and native-born citizens. Therefore, as we move along it’s important to keep this in mind when talking about how immigrants aren’t receiving due process.
My final point is that the system of deporting immigrants is stripping them of due process. Sourced by an interview of Jamie Rowan a professor of legal studies, Trump is using the Alien enemies act of 1789 used to deport members of Venezuelan gangs to El Salvador without due process. The regular migrant is not a part of gangs and is an excuse to get them out of the country as soon as possible. Also the act should be irrelevant and shelved since it was over 200 years ago. Trumps reasoning for this that the presence of alleged members of a gang is akin to being at war. This is extreme thinking. Having alleged gang members is not the equivalent of being at war. This deportation technique is based on outdated laws and is unconstitutional.
Ultimately, deportation of immigrant’s should be slowed if not stopped all together. It’s going to cost the United States in the long run, a waste of resources, and is stripping migrants of due process. We should care in the present before all these people and cultures are stripped from the United States.
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