Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Torn Apart - Immigration Helping (?)

This past Sunday edition of the San Jose Mercury devoted the headline and a two page spread to a story called Torn Apart, a piece where a reporter followed the Jimenez-Mota family for a year.

The article and 30-minute documentary can be seen here:
http://www.mercurynews.com/torn-apart

I found it interesting, becuase two of the six children are Aragon students, and another recently graduated. The story follows the family through their struggles in a case for their mother to stay in the country (their father had already been deported).
I think that it is unfair of immigration Enforcements to target families. these people, regardless of their citizenship, claim America as their home and raise their children to take advantage of the opportunities avaliable. they work, and participate in the communtiy like any other American family. I think that the government should create a better system to allow these people to pursue citizenship, rather than live in fear and struggle.

So I want to know your opinion. Should ICE be targetting these families as they do? What should they be doing? Do you think they understand the impact they're having on these families?

2 comments:

michelleyu said...

This documentary was almost heartbreaking to watch, especially knowing that this student went to Aragon and has such an impact on our community. Immigration reform should definitely be a priority of our government, as families are being "torn apart" by the deportation of their family members. As with the Jimenez Mota family, deporting these family members shatters the family as they are losing a primary source of income, which causes these families to have to rely on state welfare programs. The ICE should not target these families and instead give them an option to become citizens- imagine the repercussions of having the parents of American born children deported... It would break MILLIONS of families.

Unknown said...

I do see both of your points about the cruel nature of tearing families apart, especially once they're already here in the U.S. But is letting people who entered the country illegally stay here fair to the thousands of people in other countries waiting for visas to get into the U.S. and apply for citizenship? If we continue to allow those who came here illegally to stay in the country, won't that send the wrong message to people who are attempting to enter the country legally? If it seems easy enough to stay here once they've gotten across the border, then the number of undocumented people in this country will continue to grow.
-Jessia Hoffman