Opposing view: Blame Mexico, not U.S. immigration policies
The killing of Laura S., whose story is told in a lengthy New Yorker article, is without question a tragedy. But the implication of the article, that her death was caused by the enforcement of U.S. immigration policies, is insidious.
Laura’s death is the responsibility of Sergio, the abusive ex-husband who killed her. Next, the blame falls on the Mexican government, which has failed to protect the safety, much less the interests, of all but the country’s elite.
The corrupt Mexican justice system failed to protect Laura, as it does so many others. Her response was to come to the United States illegally. There is no evidence that she sought political asylum in this country.
In truth, she could not have qualified for it in any event. Political asylum, as the name suggests, protects people who face political persecution at the hands of their governments based on circumstances of race, religion or political belief.
The United States cannot reasonably be expected to protect everyone in the world who claims to have a violent domestic partner. That is a responsibility of the local authorities, and the delivery of basic justice to their citizens is a domestic political problem.
Sadly, the people in this country who believe that U.S. immigration enforcement is responsible for Laura’s death, and contend that it is America’s obligation to allow anyone in a bad personal relationship to remain here, never ascribe culpability to local sanctuary policies that result in needless deaths. There are no editorials in USA TODAY, nor articles in The New Yorker, titled “When Sanctuary Policies are a Death Sentence,” lamenting politically driven policies that turn criminal aliens loose on the street of this country.
Laura’s tragic death should lead to change in Mexico, at the hands of the Mexican people who have been given short shrift by Mexico’s corrupt political system. Our asylum system badly needs reform. But expanding it to accommodate personal relationships is impractical and invites more fraud.
Dan Stein is president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).