President Trump has instilled a fear in immigrants from all over the globe. Many of them are being picked up at their court hearings, their homes, and, as in the case of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, at their immigration check-ins. Ms. Rayos has been checking in with ICE for eight years, but this year she did not walk out of her appointment. Under the Obama administration, Ms. Rayos was permitted to stay in the US since her crime, using a fake social security card to get a job, did not endanger the community. Under the new regime, however, the game has changed. ICE officers now have the authority to pick up anyone who was convicted, or even believed to have committed, any criminal offense. Nearly 10 years ago, Ms. Rayos, still in her early 20s, was picked up while working at a local water-park. She was trying to support her two young children and, unfortunately, using a fake social was how she acquired a job. Her now teenage children still remember the night she was taken away, and are currently re-living the nightmare as their mother is facing deportation to Mexico once again.
There are moral issues with this Executive Order of Trump, but there are also practicality issues. If an immigrant knows he or she will be picked up by ICE when they go to their court date or immigration check-in – why would they go? Further, many local courts and municipalities will lose out on hundreds of thousands of fine money since people will forego their court date. This is money that many cities rely on to live. Ms. Rayos admits she was counselled to seek refuge at a local church or to go into hiding. She took the risk and made her statement – she was not going to hide. We do know, however, that not all immigrants will face the situation the same way. We could soon revert to having a country with a hidden people. An entire group of individuals that the law does not know about and that stays in the shadows. This does not help law enforcement, it does not help the government, and it does not help our communities. Immigrants may stop reporting crimes, for fear of being picked up by the very police they called the help them. We need to ask ourselves, who is benefiting from this? Because it is not the nation as a whole.
Source: NY Times
