Bruce Lee Once Said, “I Want To Think Of Myself...As A

Basing their mission on national security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sees to identify and apprehend criminal aliens and other removable individuals from within the United States, as well as those along the border who are attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. During 2015 ICE conducted 235,413 removals (ice.gov). Even though ICE claims to only detain and deport those who are criminals and threaten national security, ICE detains children, women, and those who have no criminal record. ICE takes part in racial profiling in order to determine who is illegal. In order for ICE to systematically support deportation they illegally enter homes, raid communities, and intimidate people and exploit individuals lack of education and resources.

Once immigrants arrive in America, they face having to live in fear of being deported. Over 72,000 immigrants with children were deported in 2013, according to reports confirmed by ICE. In a book I read, Enrique's journey, Enrique was almost deported back to Central America after living for years with his family in America. His daughter had to visit him in jail and wonder if he would be there the next day. It is not our place to split up immigrant families, the so called American Dream is the promise that everyone will be treated equally, regardless of social class or birthplace.

Security is a big problem to many people, they will be happy to know that immigrants aren’t criminals, in fact they are less likely to commit a crime than someone born in the United States. Research shows that immigrant men around the ages 18-49 are one fifth to one half as likely to be imprisoned than Americans (Pérez-Peña). This illustrates how twisted our view is on immigrants, media has pinned immigrants as dirty criminals. With President Trump in office, his single sided view on immigrants only makes things worse. Not only are immigrants law-abiding, they also take up arms and protect our nation; around 8,000 noncitizens join the military each year (Powers). These patriots will lay down their life for America and Americans still persecute them, this is unacceptable. Lastly, the logistics of coming to the United States after a long journey and a fruitless life only to be incarcerated doesn't make any sense. Furthermore, study shows that even illegal immigrants pay their taxes when they could easily get away with it. "Undocumented immigrants are trying to abide by the law and are fulfilling their civic and financial responsibilities." Say’s Magaña-Salgado, filing their taxes and abiding the law helps them in judicial cases (Blanco). The

as a result of the president’s broken immigration system. Family deportation raids targeted Central American families, including women and children, who crossed the border illegally to escape violence in their native countries were forced to return home. The Obama administration made it a priority to deport immigrants with a criminal record, but data gathered by the Marshall Project, showed that over 30,000 undocumented immigrants that were deported had no criminal convictions. “I was born in the U.S., and both of my parents were deported to Mexico two years ago,” said Juan Juarez, a senior in college. “My mother was deported because of her illegal entry into the country and my father was deported due to a DUI

Despite these high rates of incarceration and deportation, immigrants are making it across reaching the United States of America. The experience or treatment encountered while crossing might not be their most pleasant. Mexico considers those who cross their southern border felons (Seper, 2010; Dickerson, 2015). Those deported who are caught re-entering the country can face up to 10 years of imprisonment, and the punishment for visa violations can be up to six years (Seper, 2010). Without knowing the specific experiences of other Latino Americans imprisoned in Mexico or their treatment while they successfully cross the same country, the Mexican immigration laws and treatment of crossing immigrants might suffice in explaining any resentment between Latinos in the United States. However, this leaves one question unanswered: Why would a Mexican in the US feel animosity towards another

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”. It is a common assertion that the United States is a “melting pot”-a mixture of numerous different cultures, ethnicities, religions, and people hailing from all over the world. However, just as proudly as this is proclaimed, there is another truth that becomes evident: prejudice against those who dare to make a better life by emigrating to the U.S. is alive and thriving. This unfortunate reality is nothing new. “Immigrants constantly face being discriminated against because of the color of their skin, the sound of their voice, or simply because of the way they look and their beliefs”

Eighty seven percent of the United States population are citizens born here while thirteen percent are born outside of the country. Of this thirteen percent, six percent are naturalized, four percent are legal permanent residents, and three percent are unauthorized immigrants. Only seven percent of the unauthorized persons have criminal convictions while twenty two percent of natural born citizens have arrest records. (Dr. Renee Scherlen, “Immigration, Refugees, and American Security”, Fact vs Fiction). Immigrants, legal or not, can be deported at any time if the officer wants them to be deported based on if they have been convicted of any criminal offense, engaged in fraud or willfulness misrepresentation, or seem to be a risk to public safety or national security (Dr. Renee Scherlen, “Immigration, Refugees, and American Security”, Fact vs Fiction).

James (1991) points out that illegal made various effects to be legal, such as creating fake documents like Social Security or green cards, and faking marriage. All those affairs are called fraud, and they can be deported directly without any opportunity to get a trial. Anti- immigration supports comment that “the problem with undocumented immigrant workers is that flouting the law has become the norm.” (Miller, 2010).

In my findings and analysis I will have the opportunity to answer the research question, I interview a Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer and a relative who experienced staying at different detention centers in Texas for six months before she was deported to El Salvador. Before I started with the interviews I let them know about my research question and then I followed up with interrogations and thoughts, details and opinions. The first interview I conducted was with the ICE officer; Mr. Fields believes that to build a wall at the border will not solve any immigration problems. He believes only criminals should be detain and deported. He said when they arrest people that do not have a criminal record they let them go, if they arrest them in the United States, when they arrest people at the borders they investigate them and most of them are looking for asylum. He said every case is different; the judge approves some cases when they go to their court hearing. Other detainees get a bail and if they cannot pay the bail they get deported. He strongly believes there are good people and bad people and he shared that he grew up in East LA. I questioned him about his thoughts or opinions regarding the law SB 1070 in Arizona and he said those laws do not apply here, it would be hard to comment on them and he would keep it personal. He believes undocumented immigrants or aliens like he called them are not deviant, he believed they are normal people.

“If you have a person that commits a serious crime, if that person, in the course of a background check, it turns out that they are not here legally, then we ought to notify the proper authorities.” Said Ramsey. Mr. Bloomberg agrees and says that if a background check is done and the criminal is not legally here, then they should be imprisoned for maximum time or sent back to their country and let the police deal with it. Many immigrants that are here are often checked because they came from an area with high crime rights and drug trafficking (Racial Profiling). The police have the right to arrest an illegal immigrant and notify proper authorities, but depending on the crime, the suspect should stay in jail to pay for the crime committed then they will be deported. The Mayor of New York says the policy will help stop any terrorists that may be planning to commit a crime.

America is perceived the world over as the “Promised Land” where everything is possible. This lucrative perception leads many immigrants to seek diverse ways to enter this vast land of promise, with the aim of living the American dream. Illegal immigrants are considered the medium behind some of criminal activities perpetuated in America. Their participation in such criminal activity is prevalent in most criminal prosecutions and convictions, in state and federal criminal justice departments. The American criminal justice system has bared the brunt of illegal criminal activities, alleged to have been committed

Deportation destroys families, detaches opportunities from individuals, and increases risks for the economy. Undocumented immigrants constantly live in fear of deportation within the United States of America. ("Deportation - FindLaw", 2017) These individuals understand that any slight encounter with immigration officials can lead to being incarcerated or even facing the process of deportation and being removed from the country and sent back to the country of origin. Deportation is often defined as the removal of unauthorized aliens for violation of various immigration or criminal laws. Deportation can lead these immigrants to lose all rights of entering the United States ever again. ("Deportation - FindLaw", 2017)

Another prominent concern regarding undocumented immigrants in general is that of their criminal intentions and activities. The notion that illegal immigrants only migrate to the United States to perpetrate misdemeanors is mostly false. Because the majority undocumented immigrants are overwhelming uneducated, this leads some natives to associate crime and negativity with these people. Yet according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 80% of undocumented immigrants’ children say they are optimistic about working hard to succeed (Roman). This shows that regardless of current education levels, the number of undocumented young people that are more inclined to working in society outweigh those that would rather cause trouble. Every now and then, there may be news coverage of undocumented criminals, such as the recent Maryland rape incident, which

Illegal immigration issues have been reported on news networks and how they are apprehended at the border, but the first thought comes to many American minds is the immigrants are of South or Central American. Those who are watching fail to realize many of those who try to cross the borders are from countries overseas which harbor terrorist. According to the Department of Homeland Security, “People of different races were entering into the Untied States from countries that harbor terrorist .” The constant attempts by such people put the Border Patrol on high alert and without

Immigration policies need to be reformed to promote family unity since policies in place today make the separation of family members inevitable. The right to family is a fundamental human right stated in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and should be protected considering that the family is an integral part of society and is “necessary by nature for the development of the person.” (“The Family and Human Rights”). However, current immigration policies, do the opposite and have resulted in the separation of more than one million family members, whether it be deportees who are forced to leave loved ones behind or separation during apprehension and holding due to laws that require family members to be separated on account of age and gender if family relations are not known (Nunez 2017)(Women’s Refugee Commission). Being that several studies have also found that separation from family has negative implications on a child’s health and wellbeing, such as attachment issues, depression, and improper development, policies and procedures should allow for undocumented families