The Mass Deportations: A perspective

Written by Irene Pierce Panayi

Regardless of what your stance is on the deportation of undocumented migrants, it’s imperative that your position carefully weighs out all of the pros and cons because the impact will be long-lasting on all of us. As Americans, we tend to let the government handle matters while we get busy with our daily lives because we feel like we can’t impact anything anyway. But that couldn’t be farther from true. The minute we get complacent, is the minute we may start to experience negatives that we won’t be able to recover from so it’s so important to at least really think about the pros and cons, and the impact they will have before taking a position.

With regard to the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, many people are making the topic about whether we should have open borders or closed borders but that’s not the issue at hand. Personally, I’m not for open borders or closed borders but for controlled borders and I think most people are. That is, we should vet those who are coming into the country while we try to expedite processing for those are trying to seek help and safety from dangerous areas. But the mass deportations aren’t about this issue anyway—They aren’t about who is coming in, but who is already here and how we are handling them. 

We are told that most of those being deported are criminals but if they are undocumented, how do we really know who is a criminal and who isn’t? We can’t know and given the large sweeps, large numbers and rush, we can’t be vetting properly either. To do mass sweeps means there must be an underlying assumption that most immigrants or illegals are criminals, which isn’t a fair assumption nor an accurate one. Many of them may be undocumented not because they want to break the law but simply because our government takes a long time to process absolutely everything. Think of how long it takes us to settle a matter at the Division of Motor Vehicles or with the IRS and we can complain. Imagine how much longer things take for them when they have no recourse. Given the speed and numbers of deportations, we can’t be vetting properly so good hard-working people are undoubtedly getting swept up as well and imagine if you were one of them. You’re a hard-working person who simply went to work and you are handcuffed without being able to talk to your family or able to gather your things, you are put on a plane and dropped off in another country. You don’t know anyone and have to start over with nothing and figure it out. Meanwhile, you may have children who come home and ask where mom or dad is and he/she is gone. We are dealing with human lives and families. There is no room for error and given the numbers and rush, there is no way we can be vetting properly. It’s a serious humanitarian issue. Some of the individuals taken may have been the sole income provider for a household and now he/she is gone. How will those remaining handle that? If you care about people and those who may be getting hurt, we have to speak out and try to help. We can’t just ignore this and get on with our daily lives. These deportations don’t just hurt those people but they will impact all of us in the following ways:

Our economy will be impacted. All of these individuals shopped, went to restaurants, bought clothes, hired for services and all of that demand and purchasing power will be gone now, too.

The number of workers will be reduced. Many businesses were already suffering from a shortage of workers. It will get worse.

Many worked in service jobs that most of us don’t like to do. They did our lawns, cleaned our homes and hotel rooms, worked in restaurants etc, and helped to keep costs down for all of us. The prices of products are already going up, do we really want the prices of services to go up now, too? 

Instead of spending the money on raids and to send people back, which is very expensive, we can use the money to help citizens who are in low poverty conditions or who are in need of medical treatment that they can’t afford. Use the money to help lives, not disrupt them. 

Another alternative is to redirect the money and effort that is being applied to the deportations towards getting everyone documented and on record so we can vet and everyone can start to pay taxes, which will help to keep the tax rate down for all of us.

In short, we have little to gain from the deportations and a lot to lose. You will also never regret caring about people and trying to help but you may regret not doing that. 

As you read this, deportations are underway. Once the people are gone, they’re gone. So don’t take this issue lightly and don’t delay. Consider all of the points, really think about the entire impact, weigh your decision and if you disagree with the deportations, speak up and try to help. Talk about it on your social media sites, try to organize a protest (any size), take photos and call your local media to express concerns. Perhaps numerous church groups can work together to organize a protest. And don’t forget to call your local representative. 

Written by Irene Pierce Panayi

Instagram @irenepiercepanayi, Facebook Irene Pierce Panayi

www.irenepiercepanayi.com

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