NPR- A Father, a Husband, an Immigrant: Detained and Facing Deportation

[Shiranu]

https://www.npr.org/2018/01/25/579761240/a-father-a-husband-an-immigrant-detained-and-facing-deportation

The day was going to be perfect.


Alex figured he would wake up at 6:30 a.m., help get his little brothers up and off to school and catch the bus by 7. After school, the 14-year-old would do something he had been looking forward to for weeks â€" play in his first football game.


He would get to put on the team jersey â€" purple, with a camouflage print collar. And most importantly, his dad, Manuel, would be there, cheering from the sidelines.


Instead, Alex woke up to his mom screaming and crying outside his bedroom door.


By the time he got out of bed, it was too late. His dad was already gone â€" on his way to the county jail and then to immigration detention, where he would spend the next six months waiting to learn his future in the United States.


Manuel came to the United States from Mexico illegally two decades ago. He is one of the 143,470 immigrants arrested in the interior of the country last year by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities. These kinds of arrests are up 25 percent compared with in 2016 â€" part of an effort by the Trump administration to fulfill a campaign promise to deport more immigrants who have come to the U.S. illegally.

Manuel's story points to a broader policy directive of President Trump's first year in office. At a time when arrests at the border are at a 46-year low, the federal government has begun to go after people who were not targets under the previous administration: those in the U.S. interior who have lived in the country for years and who often have committed no crimes. In 2017, arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record increased by 42 percent compared with in 2016


Manuel's case illustrates not only the giant, complicated bureaucracy involved in immigration enforcement but also the ripple effects one arrest can have on a family and a community.


NPR obtained Manuel's ICE file, which confirms the details of his history in the United States. At the family's request, NPR has obscured some family member's names and left other details vague because of their status in the country.


...

Deportation of non-violent, non-criminal immigrants does not just get "revenge" or punish them for crossing illegally; it tears apart families, ruins educations of our future generation, and harms the country as a whole.

We are on the path of abandoning DACA, because the Democrats are spineless cowards who will speak out of one side of the mouth about how they will protect it, then the moment the face Republican politics they piss themselves and give the Republicans everything they want.


"But Mitch McConnell promised us he would address the issu..." ... are you fucking serious, Democrats? You caved in because a politician who lies to his own party about upholding promises promised you? Honestly, how stupid are you?

And I harp on Democrats because they are suppose to be the "good" guys (or at least, the not as bad guys) and frankly harping on the heartless, corrupt Republicans who are objectively terrible human beings is only stating the obvious. That doesn't mean I regret for a second choosing the lesser of two evils, but I just want them to act like it and actually stand up for immigration, for women, for the LGBT community, etc. instead of acting like a bunch of little pussies any time the face any opposition.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

I used to have a very hard opinion about this issue, but it has softened for a number of reasons. The biggest one by far is that most illegal immigrants came to the US legally, but weren't able to renew their visas or become residents in time and got stuck here. America has some pretty ridiculous immigration policies that causes this to happen, and people get established in this country only to get blindsided by bureaucratic nonsense.

Another big reason is a matter of simple money. The cost of detaining and deporting the millions of undocumented people in our country would run up a bill into the trillions of dollars, about as much as one of our more recent wars. The spending on those wars isn't exactly popular, if you'll recall. At this point, it would be far more economical for us to recognize that our immigration laws have failed, and to re-write them while simultaneously integrating all non-violent offenders.

Also let's not pretend as if Trump is going after the Canadians and Europeans who make up the majority of illegal immigrants. This crack-down is an excuse to pick on brown people, which the far right has had a massive hard-on for since time immemorial.

[Baruch]

The President has unlimited power to pardon.  Carter did this with the Marielitos from Cuba in 1980.  This can be done with DACA ... so why didn't Obama do that?  He has the heart of a Grinch too, but is more polished than Trump.  I would take care of the DACA folks immediately, not use them as pawns as ... both parties, are using them.

Yes, the Democrats are helpless baby seals, being beaten on the head by the seal hunting Republicans ;-(  Not true.  They are both seal hunters, deciding on how best to club the baby seals.

[Jason78]

Just like the Gestapo in the 1930's.

[Mr.Obvious]

Consider this post a bookmark for when i have The time to make an appropriate response.
A heartwrznching and important discussion, but not one i can hadtily reply on, on my phone.
This way, it'll pop up in my notifications.

[SGOS]

And I harp on Democrats because they are suppose to be the "good" guys (or at least, the not as bad guys).

The difference between the two parties is mostly in the rhetoric, and in the rhetoric, the divide between the two parties is enormous.  In actual job performance, both parties make sure the wealthy are taken care of first.  There are issues which the wealthy don't care about, and here both parties can play act in mock battles that signal virtues to the voters.  Not much gets done, because it's just a performance and of little interest to those with debts owed them by senators and congressmen.

The postponement of the immigration issue is just a way of not dealing with it, and as a political strategy, it's quite clever.  Both parties get what they want.  The wealthy don't care about that issue.  To the voters, Republicans come off as the hardliners.  The Democrats signal they have protested, and when the desired outcome (which is to do nothing) comes about, the Democrats can save face by saying they were tricked by the deceitful Republicans.  And the best thing is that the issue remains as a hot button, which can be continually used in future fundraising.

[Baruch]

Just like the Gestapo in the 1930's.

Gestapo never went away.  Germany is increasingly bringing back the Stazi (E German Gestapo).  But then the Chancellor is an E German.  The US is closely following the anti-citizen moves of China.  Never hear of Operation Paperclip?  We are all loyal Germans now.

The US has many laws.  Selective enforcement is key.  If they were all enforced, then most Americans posting here would be arrested.

[pr126]

Gestapo never went away.  Germany is increasingly bringing back the Stazi (E German Gestapo).  But then the Chancellor is an E German.  The US is closely following the anti-citizen moves of China.  Never hear of Operation Paperclip?  We are all loyal Germans now.

The US has many laws.  Selective enforcement is key.  If they were all enforced, then most Americans posting here would be arrested.

Germany: Return of the Stasi Police State?

Germany's new law requires social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to censor their users on behalf of the government. Social media companies are obliged to delete or block any online "criminal offenses" within 24 hours of receipt of a user complaint -- regardless of whether the content is accurate or not.

Social media platforms now have the power to shape the form of current political and cultural discourse by deciding who will speak and what they will say.

Notice the ease with which the police chief mentioned that he had filed charges to silence a leading political opponent of the government. That is what authorities do in police states: Through censorship and criminal charges, they silence outspoken critics and political opponents of government policies, such as Beatrix von Storch, who has sharply criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel's migration policies.

While such policies would doubtless have earned the German authorities many points with the old Stasi regime of East Germany, they more than likely contravene the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to which Germany is a party, as well as the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The old prison cells of the DDR will be handy again.

[Baruch]

Any human who cogitates a political thought ... is delusional of one type or another.  If voting mattered, it would be illegal.

[Unbeliever]

The President has unlimited power to pardon.  Carter did this with the Marielitos from Cuba in 1980.  This can be done with DACA ... so why didn't Obama do that?  He has the heart of a Grinch too, but is more polished than Trump.  I would take care of the DACA folks immediately, not use them as pawns as ... both parties, are using them.

White House: We Don't Have The Authority To Pardon DREAMers
Democrats and advocates are trying to make their effort gain steam. The White House says it can't be done.

Democrats and immigration activists asking President Obama to pardon so-called DREAMers, releasing a statement to BuzzFeed News that the president does not have the power to do so.

"The president takes the executive clemency power seriously. As a general matter, we do not comment on the likelihood of whether a specific pardon may be granted, should one be requested," a White House official said. "We note that the clemency power could not give legal status to any undocumented individual. As we have repeatedly said for years, only Congress can create legal status for undocumented individuals."

[Baruch]

Please never quote a politician again ... it is the same as letting a drunk vomit on you ;-(

Obama, Trump ... all of them are horrible liars and serial killers.  Why do you care that they say?  It is what they do that matters.  What they say is always indirection.

Unbeliever, you are Canadian, right?  If so, you know nothing about Americans, just how to be the Queen's bitch.

If Congress all of a sudden developed a backbone, I would defenestrate the lot of them.  The President can do anything he wants.  Just ask Nixon.  Nixon should have defenestrated Congress, and burned those stupid tapes.

[Jason Harvestdancer]

The thing that gets me is that while Republicans talk tougher on immigration, Democrats act tougher.  I wish the press would do a profile story on each deportation under Democrats the way they do that for Republican.

[Shiranu]

The thing that gets me is that while Republicans talk tougher on immigration, Democrats act tougher.  I wish the press would do a profile story on each deportation under Democrats the way they do that for Republican.

I remember reading stories from families of immigrants during Obama's presidency, and being just as disappointed then as I am now. I think the main reason it's getting more attention now is because the president is making it a key issue now. Under Obama, it was something that went under the radar, unless you were related to or heavily involved with the immigrant population. But there were good articles back then as well... people just didn't view them as often.

[Cavebear]

The President has unlimited power to pardon.  Carter did this with the Marielitos from Cuba in 1980.  This can be done with DACA ... so why didn't Obama do that?  He has the heart of a Grinch too, but is more polished than Trump.  I would take care of the DACA folks immediately, not use them as pawns as ... both parties, are using them.

Yes, the Democrats are helpless baby seals, being beaten on the head by the seal hunting Republicans ;-(  Not true.  They are both seal hunters, deciding on how best to club the baby seals.

The President's power to pardon is NOT unlimited.  He/she cannot pardon people guilty of State crimes, for example.  And He/she cannot pardon people for obstruction of justice involving him/her self.

[Baruch]

The thing that gets me is that while Republicans talk tougher on immigration, Democrats act tougher.  I wish the press would do a profile story on each deportation under Democrats the way they do that for Republican.

But, but ... Obama is the Messiah, got the Peace Prize before he did any warcrimes!