The feds want our complicity. We shouldn't give it to them.
Words mean things.
Or at least they used to.
Take the word “criminal” for example. It has been inserted into the debate over immigration, pushed by the Trump administration insistence on arresting, incarcerating and deporting so-called “criminal” aliens. It’s a term that conjures up the perfect antagonist if you’re looking to profit from a paranoid, divided, us-against-them society.
Fear and stereotypes around immigration enforcement have always been destructive to a community, but they seemed to be headed toward a fever pitch as the Trump administration digs its claws into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
So what does this term mean?
It can mean a violation of people’s constitutional rights, for one. All people in the United States – regardless of your residency or citizenship status – are protected under the U.S. Constitution.
Under this administration, it means taking basic protections away from people who are undocumented, discriminating against people of color, and ultimately tearing apart families and people’s lives.
FURTHER READING: Fact vs. Fiction: Separating facts from falsehoods on immigration
Because under current policy for undocumented immigrants, anybody charged with a crime – even if they’re not convicted, is subject to incarceration and deportation by ICE. Even further than that, ICE can detain and deport anyone they believe might have broken the law, whether they’re charged or not. And finally, just to sweep all the corners clean, it gives immigration enforcement officers individual judgment as to whether someone poses a risk to public safety – and should be deported.
With so many people in their sights, it’s clear the federal government wants – and is seemingly demanding – our complicity.
We shouldn’t give it to them. We shouldn’t become proxies for such destructive policies.
That could be a challenge, given the financial carrot ICE has for cash-strapped counties with costly jails to run. Local jails across the country are part of ICE’s scheme to increase space for an aggressive detention agenda, and ICE is busy identifying more beds in county facilities to house the anticipated rise in detentions in years to come. It’s a new form of privatizing our local jails and officers in the industrial detention complex.
It’s important to remember that coming into this country illegally – crossing the border outside of the proper process – is simply a misdemeanor. And if you have been in the country legally and your documents expire, the offense is a civil offense – it is not a crime. Yet, with compounding levels of offenses aimed at ensnaring immigrants, the federal government has become a “criminal” making machine.
Oregonians have been letting their voice be heard against the invasive tactics of ICE in our communities.
Lawmakers can follow suit, pushing back harder with legislation that prohibits unchecked federal collusion with local law enforcement. One example to look at is California, which is considering several pieces of legislation to establish a due process for cooperation between federal and local officials – one that protects individual rights and doesn’t exploit police authority.
It’s unconscionable that a nation that owes so much to immigrants would treat modern day immigrants with such contempt. We have designated a population of people of color with a criminal label for the slightest offenses, misdemeanors that would be a slap on the wrist for a native resident.
Basta.
Enough.
FURTHER READING: Letter to my newborn twins: Immigrants made America great (commentary)
