Unconscionable

The Dept of Homeland Security states that it will use any information gatherered in its aid-giving process against any illegal immigrant who faces a deportation hearing. Hmmm, let's see, national tragedy where hundreds of thousands are displaced due to the inept actions of the DHS, Bush Administration, etc. Now, we turn a blind eye to their plight because "we cannot turn a blind eye to the law."

As a lawyer, and yes, as a defense lawyer, I swore an oath to uphold the law. However, when it comes to the enforcement of unjust laws, I think turning a blind eye might be in society's best interest. We currently turn a blind eye to all of those major corporations that hire illegal citizens (seriously, when have you ever heard of a farmer or hotel chain that's had to go through the legal system because it hired illegal immigrants of South America). First, illegal aliens are the backbone of our service industry. Everybody knows this. They work jobs that most legal citizens would not choose to work at (or at the very least, they work in jobs where there's not enough citizens to fill those jobs). They are our maids, our busboys, our dishwashers, our construction workers. So, if we deport them, we drain a major capital resource from our economy. Second, many illegals have children here who are U.S. citizens. If we deport the parents, the children will be without parental guidance. This is not a recipe for producing well-adjusted citizens who we can count on to become productive members of society. In fact, if we want to produce more crime in America, we should take away more and more parents in the lower income strata.

I fear that xenophobia, and perhaps racism, fuels much of the anti-illegal immigrant sentiment. Unfortunately (or not), so long as our country is a land of opportunity, we will always have illegal immigrants. Threatening to deport them for requesting basic, life-saving services is an unconscionable act. My hope is that those in the right, those that profess to be people of God and Jesus, realize how un-Christian this view is.