ICE Self-Deportation Plan
Frank Sharry comments on the ICE Self-Deportation Plan:
In an interview on the Univision television program “Al Punto” last Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary Julie Myers announced the latest Bush Administration plan to tackle the problem of undocumented immigration: voluntary self-deportation. Myers announced that ICE would soon launch a program encouraging undocumented workers to “turn themselves in” in an “organized” way. According to Myers, this program would give workers a chance to make the necessary arrangements before leaving their families behind in the U.S.
“This sounds like a policy straight out of a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit, not a serious proposal,” said Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice. “The idea that millions of people are going to knock on the government’s door and asked to be deported is pure fantasy. This is not a solution; this is mass deportation on the cheap, and it just won’t work.”
The announcement came at a time when the Republican Party is quickly losing ground with Latino and immigrant voters, a group that many see as pivotal to determining the next President of the United States.
“The GOP already has an image problem with Latino voters, and now the Administration goes on Univision to tell millions of Latino citizens that it has abandoned its support for common-sense immigration reform, and wants their spouses, parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents to report for deportation? Call me crazy, but I doubt that will send the message to Latino voters that the Republican Party understands the complexity of this issue and supports practical solutions.
“All eyes will be on Senator John McCain to see if he embraces the Administration’s new proposal or stands up for comprehensive immigration reform. Just a few years ago, Senator McCain said a report-to-deport policy ‘borders on fantasy’ and ‘isn’t workable.’ He said the ‘reality is 11 million people are not going to voluntarily come out of the shadows just to be shipped home’(Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, 7/26/2005). In 2008, it remains to be seen whether Senator McCain still holds that belief, or if he will join the Administration in supporting this half-hearted deportation strategy.”
“What this country needs is common-sense immigration reform that requires undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and get legal. Asking people to self-deport is like asking citizens to voluntarily send in what they think is fair to the IRS. It is laughable if it weren’t so serious a matter. Given the judgment demonstrated by the recent spate of ineffective and counterproductive immigration raids, I wouldn’t put anything past ICE or the Bush Administration.”
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