It does not matter whether the president is a Republican or a Democrat if one is here illegally. Obama was called the deporter in chief; so much for promises.
You will get a chance to make a difference again in two years, as Congress runs every two years. Don’t wait till it is election time. The work for you should begin now. We will also have state elections.
For Carlos Galindo and everyone like him, that is how they live their lives, every day. They fear that being in the wrong place at the wrong time could lead to exile, and it’s a terrible burden to bear.
During the 2008 campaign, Senator Barack Obama seemed to understand their pain and promised to fix our broken immigration system. He promised to enact comprehensive immigration reform and create a pathway to citizenship for the millions of hardworking people who labor for little money at often thankless jobs to make their children’s lives — and for that matter our lives — a little bit easier. He pledged to no longer separate children from their parents. Today 4 million childrencall an undocumented immigrant mom or dad. Children who hug their parents extra tight before they leave for work for fear they’ll never see them again.
Latinos, like me, rewarded Obama with our vote. In 2008: because he warmed our hearts. In 2012: because we believed his second term would free him to get immigration reform done, regardless of Republican obstructionism.
But the hope he inspired has spiraled into hopelessness.
Since President Obama assumed office, he has deported more than 2 million human beings — husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. In March, the president looked as if he couldn’t stomach his deportation record any longer, ordering his new head of homeland security to review how the White House could make the nation’s deportation policies more “humane.”
At any point, ICE could round up those immigrants under remote surveillance, through GPS devices and mobile phone apps. ICE agents also capture people as they are being transferred from police custody, jail or prison. Traffic stops, domestic disputes and altercations with neighbors lead to deportation. This kind of enforcement is the most efficient for ICE; it has made up more than 90% of ICE arrests under President Joe Biden and will likely happen even more aggressively under Trump.
Well, one could also offer rewards like they do with crime stoppers.
It will be four interesting years, if not longer.
You will get a chance to make a difference again in two years, as Congress runs every two years. Don’t wait till it is election time. The work for you should begin now.