To the editor:
Given outrage over immigration agents’ abuses, there are increasing calls to scrap Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. As we consider this, here are some thoughts.
First, open borders are an option. That was U.S. policy until 1882’s Chinese Exclusion Act. We’d still screen for smuggling and human trafficking, but it’s like states: We don’t restrict anyone from Pennsylvania moving to Maine.
Area-wise, we’re huge. The worldwide human population could fit inside Texas alone.
Economically, immigrants aren’t a drain, they contribute positively: more workers, more consumers, more taxpayers. Many politicians blame immigrants for the working class’s woes, but the real problem is decades of “trickle-down” economics giving our money to rich people.
Crime doesn’t rise in areas where immigrants settle, and native-born people are much more likely to commit crimes. We’ll still have laws: If an immigrant commits murder, that’s still illegal — like if a Pennsylvanian murders a Mainer.
Cultural arguments hold no water, because culture is always changing. Having more non-white, non-English-speaking, non-Christian people doesn’t detract from anyone else’s identity. If you think it does, that’s a racist idea.
But even if you think we should restrict immigration, enforcement doesn’t need to look like ICE and CBP. Littering is illegal, but we don’t jail litterers; why are we treating immigrants like dangerous offenders? Even if you think we should, there’s still due process, which ICE violates (see NBC News: “ICE says its officers can forcibly enter homes during immigration operations without judicial warrants”). And even if we arrest someone legally, detainees have rights, which ICE violates (see Yahoo News: “ICE Has Cut Its Detainees Off From Medical Care”).
Right now CBP Commander Greg Bovino is in Minneapolis (250 miles from any border) teargassing protesters; is that his job? Is ICE’s job to arrest 5-year-olds with asylum cases in Minnesota and jail them in Texas (like just happened to Liam Ramos)? Is it anyone’s job to strangle detainees to death in those Texas jails (like just happened to Geraldo Lunas Campos)?
Rob Kipp
Presque Isle
