"I need my papa!" That's what a five-year old Mexican child said to her mother, according to the Washington Post. Her father had been deported. How to explain to a small child why your father isn't around, and why you may not be seeing him for a long while?
Some will not unreasonably say "I need my papa" is but an anecdote, and they would be correct, but add enough of them up...The Washington Post reports that the majority of deportees are males, and compared to past deportation efforts, those incarcerated before being sent away (sometimes to countries they're not from) aren't criminals as was normally the case in the past. As evidenced by ICE searches at places of work, the immigrants are being taken away simply because they lack papers.
The treatment of would-be immigrants is inhumane. It’s also harmful to the U.S. economy. All that, plus it’s harmful to the U.S.’s reputation, which is bad for its economy.
Not asked enough is why the U.S. is doing as it’s presently doing. Again, ICE is rounding people up at places of work. Which means the people being detained came to the U.S. to earn more money, and they’re able to earn more money stateside because they’re much more productive stateside.
Worse is that the detainees frequently have families. Did your work habits change once you had a family? With the inevitable change in mind, is it any wonder these fathers brought their ambition to the United States? The inflow is an expression of a powerful desire to provide.
Imagine then, being detained by ICE agents. It wouldn’t just be agonizing to lose one’s freedom and ability to work, but think of the agony for these detainees as they contemplate family members for whom they’re no longer able to provide for. And whom they can't see.
All because they're here working. It's worth repeated mention that ICE agents aren’t showing up to welfare offices to find the “illegals,” rather they’re showing up to businesses. What a blow to the U.S. economy in addition to being inhumane.
Private businesses aren’t hiring these illegals because they’re not value added, but because they are. And while conservatives who should know better will claim businesses just want the “cheap immigrant labor,” no business wants cheap labor. It’s unreliable. In other words, small businesses wouldn’t hire immigrant workers unless they improved their businesses.
Which means the cheap labor immigrants represent will soon enough be well-paid labor, by virtue of getting themselves here. Reliable workers are very much in demand. It’s a reminder that the deportation of illegal workers saps economic growth stateside by its very description.
That these deported illegals are being sent to places where they can’t as effectively provide for themselves and their family members is brutally inhumane, only for the lengthy detentions preceding deportation cruelly adding to the inhumanity of it all. Again, why?
Pundits claim the why is rooted in the look of the borders when Joe Biden was president. Masses of people. Yes, central planning of a market phenomenon (again, they're coming here for work) is a bad look. Though a much worse look is armed agents of the federal government walking into private businesses to handcuff workers. How about we fix both by legalizing work? It would perhaps revive a U.S. reputation surely sullied by ICE.
Sorry, but the U.S.’s reputation matters. The inflow of people is a global market signal that people come here to fix their poverty. What a brilliant reputation the U.S. has with the ambitious, one that powerfully lifts its economy as a result.
