Keeping Families Together – It’s about American Values!

A comprehensive immigration reform should include measures that keep families together and uphold their human and civil rights.

Recent raid on work places have ended in the most heartbreaking situations*: Parents whisked away before they could arrange for their children to be picked up from school; parents being detained and deported, leaving their U.S.-born children behind in the care of neighbors so that they can continue their American schooling.

The reality of immigrant families is that they are very often made of mixed-status members. For instance, undocumented parents have some children who were born in the United States and are American citizens.(The Pew Hispanic Center found that 73% of children of undocumented immigrants were born in the United States.)

The other reality faced by immigrant families is that it is extremely difficult, and for many impossible, to procure visas for family reunification The spouse or children of a legal permanent resident can wait almost five years for a visa**, for instance, not through any fault of their own but rather because of bureaucratic delays and unrealistic caps.

Breaking apart families that are working, learning English and putting down roots in the manner of any other wave of immigrants throughout history serves no purpose, hurts children, and does not represent American values.

There is a better way. We can eliminate the outrageous delays, increase the number of visas, allow family members to stay in the country while they fix their papers, release immigrants on bond instead of putting them in detention for months at a time, and insist that human and civil rights be respected.

This more humane and fair option would

-Uphold American values. America believes in human rights, civil rights, and family unity. We cherish those values and so do immigrants. America has changed its laws when they failed to hold up to these standards. Reforming immigration in a way that is fair and humane is living up to our best values, not follow our worst instincts.

-Decrease illegal immigration. Creating a legal way for family members to stay and work in the United States would decrease the need for illegal immigration.

-Save taxpayer money. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spent $1.6 billion on the detention of immigrants in 2008***. More millions are spent on court proceedings against and deportation of people who have not necessarily committed any crime besides working without papers. Keeping families together in legality would also relieve some of the scourges that come with living in the shadows, such as a low insurance rate, which cost the U.S. taxpayers in emergency health services.

-Buttress the Social Security system. Immigrant families in the United States tend to be younger and therefore will play a crucial part in the future of the American Social Security system. By working and contributing taxes, they will ensure that our aging population continues to receive adequate benefits.

-Give children an education. Only half of undocumented immigrant children who graduate from high school go to college, compared with almost three quarters of U.S.-born children. These children are not responsible for their parents’ choice to immigrate and would have an equal opportunity to education. Well-educated children are essential for a nation to prosper.

The 2007 workplace raids ignited a public outcry and the practice has been put on hold by immigration agencies. The American public clearly understood that immigrant families are not criminals and that they come here to work and pursue the American Dream. Their contributions should be respected not rejected. We need an immigration reform that will keep families together in legality, not tear them apart. Let’s pass it!

*Washington Post, 2007
**National Immigration Forum, 2007
***ICE budget