Got to be a better way
THE OTHER DAY, we watched as a wife and mother of two who lived in the U.S. for 20 years without a criminal record was deported to Mexico. What makes this case especially grievous is that she is the spouse of an Iraq War veteran.
Alejandra Juarez came to America fleeing violence in her home country, she told NBC News. And while she regrets entering illegally, Mrs. Juarez said she is alive today because she made it to El Norte. She later married her husband, Cuauhtemoc Juarez, a supporter of our president who served in the U.S. Marine Corps and later joined the Army National Guard in Florida.
Cuauhtemoc Juarez came to the U.S. from Mexico and was naturalized—just before being deployed to Iraq.
Routinely, Alejandra Juarez checked in with immigration authorities, and they told her she had nothing to worry about because she had no criminal record. But under this administration’s zero tolerance policy, she was ordered deported this year.
Letters to the president from Cuauhtemoc Juarez and Florida Congressman Darren Soto did no good, and on Friday, Alejandra Juarez tearfully said goodbye to her family before boarding a plane at Orlando International Airport.
We can do better than this. Our troops who fight for this nation deserve better than to have their spouses torn from them.
Yes, we are a nation of laws. And yes, we need a strong border to keep our country safe. But there are always exceptions to the rule, and this family surely deserved one. Which is why those enforcing the border rules, and our laws, should be people, not robots.
Everyone acknowledges our immigration system is broken, but no one can agree how to fix it. It’s not a simple issue, but surely in the years since we’ve realized there’s a gargantuan problem Congress could have fixed it.
A few things should be obvious. First, we need a strong southern border with some kind of wall. Second, DACA recipients who were brought here without a choice as children need an eventual path to citizenship. And finally, Cuauhtemoc Juarez deserves a reunified family. He’s more than earned it.
If we can ask people like Cuauhtemoc Juarez to lay down their lives for this nation, then at the very least they can ask for their families to be at home when they get off work.