The Reality Behind “Immigration Reform”: Massive Deportations and Separated Families
February 3, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
“Opportunity is who we are, and the defining project of our generation is to restore that promise... when people come here to fulfill their dreams... they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everyone. So let’s get immigration reform done this year.”
Republicans and Democrats both rose to their feet applauding when Barack Obama spoke these words at his recent State of the Union address. “Bipartisan agreement” regarding immigration law indicates that leading figures on both sides recognize the potential volatility and danger to the entire political and economic system of U.S. capitalism- imperialism if they don’t revamp the federal laws and policies meant to manage immigrants and control the U.S.’s borders.
June, 2013. Three youths from undocumented immigrant families traveled from Seattle, Miami, and Boston to the border fence between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico, to reunite with their mothers who they had not seen in years. Photo: AP
This system relies on relentless exploitation of millions of undocumented immigrants for its profitable functioning. Yet the rulers of this system see many of these same people as remaining of questionable loyalty to the U.S., its government, and its “way of life.” A reactionary Christian fascist Texas politician last week announced his support for a federal law similar to the one Obama mentioned in his talk, saying he would “push to close the border...” and “push for the federal government and the state to bring these people out of the shadows, provide them documentation, and let them pursue their dreams.”
The “reform” and “pursuit of dreams” that Obama and others speak of are concentrated in proposed federal legislation put forward last year by a group of top Republicans and Democrats in Congress and endorsed by Obama. As Revolution wrote, this proposed law has “nothing at all to do with reforming an oppressive situation to benefit the people. It has everything to do with even further ramping up the brutal militarization of the U.S./Mexico border and instituting highly repressive attacks on and registration of millions of immigrants in this country, in order to better control and exploit a segment of the population that the ruling class of this capitalist-imperialist system both needs and fears—all under the guise of extending a ‘path to citizenship.’” (“Proposed New Immigration Law: An Ominous Leap in Repression and the Need for Resistance,” May 1, 2013, revcom.us)
Negotiations between Democrats and Republicans point to renewed efforts to finalize this highly repressive law in the months ahead, and Revolution will have further analysis as that process develops. This weekend, Republican leaders are meeting to try to hammer out some unanimity in their own ranks on how to approach changes in the law. And on January 31, Obama announced that he might consider “immigration reform” that does not even have any plan for undocumented immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship, even under the highly restrictive conditions included in last year’s proposal.
What will emerge from these intense and bitter negotiations is uncertain. But in the meantime, we are going to have a series of short pieces contrasting the reality of life for the vast majority of immigrants who come to this country and the image of “generosity” and “opportunity” presented by Obama and other political leaders.
As you read these stories, ask yourself about the basic nature of a system that routinely chews up the lives and aspirations of millions of people while proclaiming itself to be the “greatest country in the world” and a “country of immigrants,” and compare it to what is possible, as expressed in this passage from the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America (Draft Proposal):
At the time of the establishment of the New Socialist Republic in North America, all those residing within the territory of this Republic—with the exception of those who played a leading role in opposing the revolution which brought about the establishment of this Republic, and/or who may have been found guilty of war crimes and/or other crimes against humanity—shall have been accorded citizenship in this Republic, with the rights and responsibilities of citizens, in accordance with this Constitution. And, from that time forward, all those born within the territory of the New Socialist Republic in North America, as well as all those, wherever they are born, who have at least one parent who is a citizen of this Republic, shall be citizens of this Republic....
The orientation of the New Socialist Republic in North America is to welcome immigrants from all over the world who have a sincere desire to contribute to the goals and objectives of this Republic, as set forth in this Constitution and in laws and policies which are established and enacted in accordance with this Constitution. (Article 2, Section H)
Three Stories of Separation
Deportations have been at record highs under Obama, basically doubling the amount of people Bush deported. In just six months in 2011, 48,486 parents of an unknown number of children were deported from the U.S. Here are a few of their stories.
After Ronald Soza dropped his children Cesia, 17, and Ronald Jr., 14, at their Pompano Beach, Florida, school on a spring day, he returned home. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents were waiting for him. Soza, originally from Nicaragua, was taken into custody.
Cesia Soza said, “Even though we knew my father might get deported we never thought it would actually happen, especially since ICE already took our mother away five years ago.”
Obama claims that ICE is only seeking out immigrants with violent criminal records, but Ronald Soza had never been accused, much less convicted, of a violent crime. A family friend in Miami who took in Cesia and Ronald Jr. said they “lost everything, their parents, their home, everything.”
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Fausto Palma-Guifarro came to the U.S. when he was 12. His mother had come to this country six years earlier to escape the violence and poverty of Honduras—a country long under a U.S. stranglehold. After years of struggle, she was able to find a way to reunite Fausto with her in North Carolina. Fausto told what happened to him as he neared the end of his high school years:
“On June 8, 2011, the day before my high school graduation, ICE came to my house and arrested me. I was detained at the ICE detention center in Cary, North Carolina, and I was alone trying to defend myself. My mother, who has Temporary Protected Status (TPS), was in Honduras visiting my siblings.”
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In 2010, Ramiro Molina Solis took his children with him on a day trip from the Phoenix area to Sedona, Arizona. “I didn’t expect that my family outing would leave my children without a father. That day the police gave me a ticket for hunting without a license. When I couldn’t pay the ticket, I was arrested and taken to Eloy Detention Center. Two days later, ICE ordered me to self-deport, even though an unpaid hunting license is the only thing they have against me. Five of my children ... are U.S. citizens.”
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