Immigration on Fire; So Why Abolish ICE?
Many Americans are up-in-arms about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). From Top-dog Democrats––like Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Elizabeth Warren––to average-joe protesters, #AbolishICE has transitioned from a fringe movement to a meaningful influencer of the 2018 midterm elections.
So what is ICE, does America need it, and why do some people say we don’t?
The current outrage over immigration was sparked with two “fake-news” stories in late May 2018.
First, the internet condemned ICE for supposedly losing approximately 1,500 undocumented immigrant children in their custody. The truth: the children had been released to their parents or guardians but had not responded to subsequent contact from Health and Human Services (HHS). Possibly precarious, but not because of government negligence.
Second, the photo of two young boys in a cage at an ICE detention center set off a firestorm against the agency; however, the picture was taken in 2014 under the Obama Administration, not under President Trump’s “inhumane” immigration regime.
Immigration policy is a sensitive issue. Anything which profoundly impacts the lives of individuals is going to elicit an emotional response, especially with respect to the detention and separation of children from their families.
The problem occurs when emotion outweighs reason, force replaces discourse, and distortion supplants honest truth. No beneficial policy change can come from a political shouting match.
ICE does detain illegal immigrant parents and children and does separate families, usually only for a short period of time. Most of the policies surrounding illegal immigrant detention, however, have remained unchanged since the George W. Bush Administration. Moral of the story: ICE dentitions aren’t Trump’s fault.
Also, the policy for children to visit ICE-detained parents is a very clear and relatively simple process, which is less strict than the visitation policies for the children of U.S. citizens held in federal custody. Separating families is a messy situation, but it isn’t the story that the political left is making it out to be.
Of further importance is the fact that ICE does more than simply “terrorize” children and their families. As a part of the Department of Homeland Security, ICE also concentrates on the management of U.S. imports and exports. It is also on the front lines of the war on drugs and anti-terrorism efforts. While immigration is a thorny topic, the initial reaction to abolish ICE isn’t the solution––especially if no alternative is proposed.
The real solution is to separate the concepts of legal and illegal immigration. Legal immigrants are the lifeblood of America and drive innovation; illegal immigrants, who break U.S. laws not only to enter but also to remain and live in the United States, are vulnerable to manipulation from employers. This doesn’t even address the issues of human trafficking and drug-crime linked with illegal immigration. People are not illegal, but actions can be and can incite greater, more dangerous crimes.
America does desperately need immigration reform: make legal immigration easier for motivated individuals and enforce existing immigration law. Abolishing ICE doesn’t solve the problem.
See the full article on the Unvarnished Blog
By: Gabrielle Etzel
Why do we need ICE? Let’s just open the borders to anyone who wants to cross since all that are coming simply want to add to the United States in call manner: culturally, financially, morally.
We don’t have a need for the additional functions, such as helping to eliminate and prevent human trafficking, that ICE provides.
Let’s go one step forward, why do we need laws at all?
Come on people, law enforcement, including ICE, provide vital services and all of the rhetoric only makes their job more difficult.
[…] it easy to check the facts and get to the point of any political issue. Interested in immigration? Their newest post is the place for […]
Like a lot of problems today, I feel like a lack of information and the twisting of information by media leads to people making a fuss over things they don’t understand. Gather all the facts (and I mean actual facts, not media garbage) before you decide to speak.
Although freedom of the press is essential for a free country, we must also be able to count on the press to be honest and not produce “fake news” or spin the facts to meet their own agenda. Non-biased reporting seems to be a thing of the past.
ICE is an essential agency for our security. Have they at times crossed the line, probably. To abolish the organization, however, does not correct any problems with the agency but instead creates even more issues for our national and personal safety and security.
Come up with a plan to improve or replace ICE, or any other essential agency, before calling for its abolition.
I suggest if you read this article and enjoy it, that you check out The Unvarnished Blog. I found it thought provoking.
Great points!
Immigration, both legal and illegal, is such a hot issue currently, we could use more ICE.
Seriously, don’t condemn things without the facts and without posing a solution.
Why are these facts only coming to light now that a “Republican” is in office. Why did they not come to light when they started or occurred?
Things have been heating up for sometime. Will it meltdown?