Twelve gang members have been arrested in response to the springtime murder of Antonio Perez. Perez was the founder of the Madison sect of the Clanton 14 Street (C-14) gang, and was killed by members of a rival gang. The 12 arrestees are members of the C-14 gang, and none of them have been charged or even accused of participating in the murder. The 12 were not charged with any recent crime but were apprehended with the intention of deportation.
It seems odd that five of these 12 undocumented immigrants were previously arrested and convicted for such charges as carrying a concealed weapon, battery and theft and not deported, and were then suddenly rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after a crime they didn’t commit. Officially, the gang members are being deported because of fears that the C-14 gang will respond to the murder of their fellow gang-member with violence. Antonio Perez was murdered in April. It is now September; I cannot help but wonder how serious a threat a gang that has not done anything in terms of retaliatory violence in three months really is.
Undocumented immigration is a mountain on the political issues landscape. Everyone from the president to the guy sitting next to you on the bus is thinking about immigration reform. Given the current state of affairs in the United States, that immigration is of such concern is hardly a surprise. The economy is teetering, unemployment is remaining stubbornly and devastatingly high and ‘politics’ only seem to imply unproductive bickering. The problems of the day are many and diverse, and the solutions seem either non-existent or impossible to implement.
Deportation has doubled in the past ten years, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But according to Chicago lawyer Salvador Cicero, most of those deportations have been based on rather flimsy crimes — such as a crucifix hanging from the review mirror obstructing the view in a car. When was the last time you heard of a driver getting a ticket, much less arrested, for having some dice hanging off their review mirror?
Deportation is a legitimate tool for ICE. However, deciding to use deportation to solve the problem, since public opinion has turned against immigrants and Congress cannot pass any sort of meaningful legislation because of political quibbling, is a terrible plan. These same opponents of undocumented immigrants’ rights have probably strived for some of the same goals the immigrants have: a better future for one’s children, the chance to become self-sufficient. Why is it that, as a country, we can sympathize with the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath, but we cannot empathize with a single mother doing absolutely everything in her power to secure a better life for her unborn child? Countries have boundaries, yes, but humanity does not. The 14th Amendment states that everyone born in the United States is a citizen. The amendment was written to prevent discrimination. Now, there is a serious argument going on as to whether we can ‘re-interpret’ it to promote discrimination. Let us instead re-interpret what it means to be an American.
Building a national identity of “American” required that some distinction be made between those living in the United States and those who did not. Thus, when the nation-building began, the line in the sand was drawn. It was an arbitrary line, an artificial line, an unreasonable line — and an inflexible line. That line has stuck: if your roots are planted in America, then you are an American. If your roots originate somewhere else, or are not deep enough, sorry, out of luck. But history does not dictate the future, and the possibility for change is omnipresent.
Do we want to be a country in which people are deported because they have a crucifix hanging from their review mirror? Do we want to be a country in which people judge each other based on where their grandparents were born? Do we want to be a country in which a conviction will not secure deportation, but suspicion will?
Undocumented immigration is a problem. Whether the solution lies with increased support for developing countries, more manageable immigration processes, ramped up border security, or any other idea you might subscribe to, is a question that will probably never be satisfactorily and completely answered. But deportation is not a solution. Deporting people because it is easier to just get rid of them instead of actually dealing with the problem is neither effective nor commendable.
Elise Swanson ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in political science and English.
