Immigration, Detention, Deportation

Haiti said NO to U.S. deportations this week, saying that the country needs to rebuild after being ravaged by several storms. It's an interesting strategy, but doesn't really benefit the Haitians stuck in limbo in U.S. detention centers. Haiti wants the U.S. to let undocumented Haitian immigrants stay and work temporarily, and the U.S. is pressuring undocumented Haitians to go get passports so that they can be repatriated without the official designation of "deportation."

The AP also recently reported that over 100,000 of deportees last year had children who were left behind. Think about those kids and what legacy that leaves for them -- not only is ICE splitting up families and being just horrible and cruel (that is something I've come to expect) they are also creating a generation of disillusioned, underrepresented children who will grow up without their parents in constant fear of the U.S. government. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!?! This is not in their best interest! If we can't count on people doing what is selfish then what can we count on anymore? Or are they just banking on new tactics for repression, terror, and hegemony by the time those youths are of age to take action?

Also, I saw on Racewire that the Pew Hispanic Center released a report on rising rates of Latinos being charged for federal crimes. The New York Times says:

"Latinos made up only 13 percent of the United States adult population in 2007, but they accounted for one third of federal prison inmates that year, a result the study attributed to the sharp rise in illegal immigration and tougher enforcement of immigration laws.

Nearly half of Latino offenders, or about 48 percent, were convicted of immigration crimes, while drug offenses were the second-most-prevalent charge, according to the report.

As the annual number of federal offenders more than doubled from 1991 to 2007, the number of Latino offenders sentenced in a given year nearly quadrupled, to 29,281 from 7,924.

Of Latino federal offenders, 72 percent are not United States citizens and most were sentenced in courts from one of the four states that border Mexico. Federal prisoners who are illegal immigrants are usually deported to their home countries after serving their sentences."

So we're imprisoning people for trying to provide for their families, essentially, either by crossing the border to work or selling drugs. Not that drugs don't destroy communities but if the government and businesses provided livable wages and acceptable working conditions then maybe folks wouldn't be so inclined to deal drugs to buy food for their kids.

Also of note:

Last month, The New York Times reported that federal immigration prosecutions had increased over the last five years, doubling in the last fiscal year to more than 70,000 cases. Meanwhile, other categories of federal prosecutions, including gun trafficking, public corruption, organized crime and white-collar crime, declined over the same period.

The number of illegal immigrants in the country increased to 11.9 million last year, from 3.9 million in 1992.