To adhere to law, we must remove emotion from immigration debate in America
Feb 10, 2017, 11:24 AM
Children hold signs protesting an anti-sanctuary bill outside the House Education Committee meeting at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. The panel rejected an effort to cut off state funding to colleges and universities that don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities. No state colleges have such a policy, but Republican Rep. Brandt Smith said he was trying to be proactive. Opponents said it could lead to profiling some students. (AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel)
(AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel)
On Thursday, Arizona was thrust into the immigration spotlight once again.
Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a mother of two from Mesa, was deported in short order after a required Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in.
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the new face of the anti-President Donald Trump immigration plan. And when I say face, I mean the picture of de Rayos in a van with bars driving away as her daughter looked on.
That is a powerful image that will continue to tug at the heartstrings of parents all over the nation and be used by the Democrats as an example of the Trump administration’s desire to break up families here in the United States.
This will not shock you — and I HATE the fact that a family was split up — but I think she should have been deported.
De Rayos was brought here at age 14, married another illegal immigrant and had two children, who are U.S. citizens.
We have to ignore most of that. We are a nation of laws not a nation of emotions.
The fact of the matter is, whether she was brought here, sent here or ran away from home and came here, she came here illegally. She used another’s Social Security number to gain employment. She pleaded guilty, was given a hearing and was ordered for deportation.
The time between her deportation order and this week is irrelevant. She was ordered for deportation. She knew this time would come. Yes, she was checking in on a regular basis and doing the right things — as far as we know.
But we have to remove ourselves from the emotions of her being a wife and a mother. She was ordered, by a judge, for deportation.
As she becomes the face of the anti-Trump immigration plan movement, I’m sure attorneys will get involved, Mexico will play its part and she will most likely be reunited with her family sooner than later.
If we remove emotion and understand that she isn’t the only mom that has been deported, she isn’t the only non-violent criminal that has been deported, we will realize that we are just feeling like this because of the picture, the headlines and news coverage.
The bottom line is that de Rayos should have been deported and, if she wants to see her family again, she needs to follow the legal channels.
