The immigration issue in America is one of those hot topics that clearly divides the population. I know people who are immigrants, some waiting for their citizenship, some hoping to stay under the radar for a little longer. I have mixed feelings on the immigration issue, and quite honestly I’m not informed enough on the issue to express a real opinion. I can’t offer a solution. But, I do have an opinion on what doesn’t work.
A prime example of what doesn’t work occurred yesterday in Chattanooga and in a few other towns across the country. Pilgrim’s Pride is a chicken factory of a sort. It employed at approximately 100 “illegal immigrants” until yesterday. That’s when ICE appeared on the scene and took part in a nationwide scoop of undocumented workers at Pilgrim’s Pride plants across the nation.
According to national news some 290 persons were taken into custody, about 100 in Chattanooga. Okay, so these people were here without proper documentation. That is a crime. But, let’s get real about the situation.
After a tough day of testing on Wednesday, some Hamilton County Schools students got off their buses to find an even more stressful situation at home: Their parents were nowhere to be found.
Tennessee and local officials still are assessing the needs of the children, who they say are among those most profoundly affected by Wednesday’s sweeping federal immigration raid at Chattanooga’s Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plants.
“There are a lot of families really hurting,” said Mike Feely, executive director of the St. Andrew’s Center, a resource for the city’s multi-cultural communities. “If you have that many moms and dads arrested, that’s just plain old rough. We’re going to be cleaning up for a long time because of this.”
Many of the children left behind are U.S. citizens and cannot be forced out of the country. But, can you imagine being a child, getting off the school bus and finding no parent at home? Today it has been reported on the local news that at least 5 of the children on the immigrants did not appear at school this morning and no one has claimed to know of their whereabouts. The officials said yesterday that all the kids were accounted for.
The parents, those without documentation, have been bussed to Atlanta for some sort of processing. But, let’s not get all that carried away by the sting. The idea that our government would just scoop up people and take them away from their children only reminds me of the early presidential debates on immigration. Remember the day when Mike Huckabee suggested that we get them all on the other side of the border… all 12 million of them? Well, it seems as if the present administration likes the idea.
In fact, the issue isn’t about immigration, per se. It is about children, children who have been separated from their parents by our government. Unlike the 400+ taken from the religious compound in Texas, the undocumented mothers were not given the option to stay with their children. And, don’t think I’m so all in favor of the Texas situation either. But, the children of this discussion are in my neighborhood, in my town.
Was it necessary to scoop up the undocumented workers and herd them into buses? I think not. These were working people, who showed up to their jobs every day. These are people who were raising families and paying their bills. These are people who believed in the American dream.
As I began, I don’t have the answers necessary to resolve the immigration issue in American. But, I know yesterday’s activity in Chattanooga, leaving young children without parents or explanations, is not a suitable answer. Rather, it is a disgrace. I am only thankful for the good people of Chattanooga who have stepped up to the plate and hope that in other towns affected by this particular round up there are people with hearts as large.
