On January 25th, President Trump signed an executive order entitled, “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” (Executive Order No. 13768, 82, 2017). Former president Barack Obama limited deportations during his term to those with felonies or serious misdemeanors, but Trump’s orders call for the additional deportations of those who are charged but not yet convicted of crimes (Sanchez, Burnside & Ansari, 2017). Trump’s orders have created additional responsibilities for state and local governments, some of which refuse to aid immigration officials because it decreases trust of law enforcement in immigrant communities (González, 2017). The recent deportation of a mother of two in Arizona has sparked protests revealing the stark contrast in individual opinions about this topic (Sanchez et al., 2017). Securing the border is a national security matter that is coupled with the decision of what to do with those undocumented and illegal immigrants who are already here.
Trump’s order called for the enforcement of immigration laws that are already on the books. He states he considers these a threat to national security especially when there is criminal conduct involved. Trump states he believes that sanctuary cities harm the public by housing potential criminals simply because they are illegal immigrants. However, Trump’s order forces those who are accused but not convicted of crimes to return to their home countries (Executive Order No. 13768, 82, 2017).
Trump will need to enlist the help of state and local governments to enforce his new executive orders, and he will need the help of community law enforcement. Previous to President Obama, there were two programs that Trump would like reinstated to protect national security. The first is the 287(g) program. It allowed and encouraged local police officers to aid in immigration law enforcement (González, 2017).
The second order is the Secure Communities Program, where employees are deputized in order to deport illegal aliens or those working in jail. The Secure Communities Program also allows the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify illegal aliens through fingerprint databases (González, 2017).
The newest story about deportation in the United States is the case of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who received felony convictions but was sheltered by the public over the years. She came to America via her parents as a teenager, and she was an active student. She had two children but did receive a felony conviction for impersonation. Rayos has checked in for years at the ICE office near her hometown, but this year her checking in was met with deportation. Her arrest and deportation has been met with protests and the arrest of seven individuals (Sanchez, 2017).
Rayos is a classic example of those who enter the country illegally. All illegal immigrants are technically criminals because of their path into the country, but does that mean it should be enforced? Trump would have all immigrants out of the country if he could merely in the interest of national security, but as the 9th District Court pointed out, executive orders superseding the broad and general laws that govern our society cannot eliminate the basic values upon which our country was founded.
If our borders are not secure, national security is at state. At the same time, we cannot restrict innocent individuals from entering our country because it is founded on an open-door policy. The future of our borders is unknown, but our intent should always be for American ideals and freedoms.
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