Obama, Citing a Concern for Families, Orders a Review of Deportations
An recent, interesting article by Michael D. Shear from the Times related to our discussion last week on the large amount of deportations during the Obama administration, as well as our readings. The push for making the deportations of illegal immigrants more “humane” has been brought into the mainstream as individuals like Senator Robert Menendez, a leading Latino voice of Congress, pressure Obama to “do something drastic”. This is demonstrative of the importance of political representation and its ability to bring to light such important issues. It is also interesting to note arguments of the opposing side, that cite unemployment as a reason to continue deportation. Considering the complex network of influences and interests in deportation, do you think this increased pressure will affect the status quo?
The graphic I included above is a visual that nicely captures the relative clemency and sympathy of judges to immigrants in New York, which we discussed in class. This can be seen in the lower amount of people who are deported and greater amount who stay in New York, compared with the rest of the United States.
Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/us/obama-orders-review-of-deportations.html?hpw&rref=politics&_r=0
It is interesting that New York judges are so much more sympathetic to immigrants, especially considering (maybe because of) their diverse backgrounds. Also, I found it shocking that the higher levels of deportation have been seen under Obama, who is often painted in the media as an advocate for immigrants. I think it would also be interesting to find out whether the areas where there are higher levels of deportation have any defining characteristics that could be used to explain them–like predominant political affiliation, ethnic composition of immigrants who are deported and who are not, or economic situation of the area. Perhaps there is no correlation and it just comes down to individual judges in places besides New York.
I kinda of think that New York judges being sympathetic to immigrants makes a lot of sense because of the diversity found here, not despite it. That is, generally New York is seen as a much more liberal state than others, especially in the South. So, for the most part New York judges are more open-minded as well. The point about Obama I do agree is pretty bewildering because most people used to see him as a very liberal president in support of Immigrants. Yet, just as prison quotas have gone up with him so have deportations
I think Glenn asks a good question about the opposing pressures: immigrant advocates on one hand and those who connect deportation with unemployment on the other. Many argue that undocumented immigrants fill the jobs that native born Americans are not willing to do. Check out this website: http://www.takeourjobs.org/
Steven Colbert took the challenge, see him testifying before Congress here: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/colbert-testifies-on-ag-jobs-bill-like-most-members-of-congress-i-haven-t-read-it-videos
Obviously I still don’t know enough about it, but I don’t really see how you can make deportation more humane, since the whole concept of deportation is pretty horrible in and of itself, regardless of how its carried out. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I agree whole-heartedly with Emily and think that the process is as humane as it can be – but the goal is what is so inhumane. Regardless of how it is carried out, deportation is horrible.
I wonder if the large number of deportations, specifically of Latinos, will cause the democrats to lose the Latino vote in the United States.
I am proud of Obama for doing a good job though. Ironic as it is though, that one of the few things he does successfully is completely antithetical to his point of view, and generally thought of as a Republican issue.
I think when they talk about making it more humane, they are trying to address criticisms such as
-people in immigration detention (before they get deported) are often transferred constantly from place to place, are given no contact with family and no representation
-they often have to be in the same facilities as regular criminals
-they receive poor medical care or none at all, with those detained sometimes dying because they did not get medicine or treatment they needed
-families are detained. yes. I am talking about children in jail! (https://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights-racial-justice-prisoners-rights/aclu-challenges-prison-conditions-hutto-detention)
-immigration court where the decision to deport is made is really problematic. It doesn’t have to have due process, and some judges reject over 90% cases that come before them (see early blog post)
I agree with you guys, though, about the difficulty of making something like deportation humane.
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