Immigration policies hurt Florida
Anyone who wondered whether President Donald Trump would craft an immigration policy that showed a decent regard for compassion, common sense, practicality and facts can stop wondering.
The answer is no, he’s not going to be constrained by any of those virtues. The harsh approach his administration announced Tuesday is bad for America, and will hit Florida particularly hard.
Florida agriculture, construction and tourism depend on immigrants, legal and illegal, and the state still depends on those industries. Those immigrants spend their wages locally, which is a boon to many other small businesses.
Florida politicians who acknowledge how important immigration is to this state have, in the past, offered solutions that do not involve mass round-ups and deportations. Rather, they’ve sought a path to legal residency . ...
As reported by The Hill newspaper, Election Day exit polls showed 70 percent of voters believed illegal immigrants should be given a path to legal residency, while only 25 percent wanted all illegal immigrants deported.
Such public opinion reflects larger practicalities. Many illegal immigrants are the parents of children who are American citizens. Do you break up such families?
In any case, it would be impossible to deport all or even most illegal immigrants. And there is no practical reason to try. Americans by and large do not want the jobs filled by illegal immigrants . ...
While previous policies focused on deporting serious criminals, the Department of Homeland Security now says it will seek to deport illegal immigrants for more minor offenses. The new rules also make it easier to skip some due-process steps during the deportation process. And the Trump administration is seeking to further absorb local law enforcement officers into the anti-immigration effort . ...
We strongly support deporting serious criminals. But if reducing crime is the goal, Trump’s policies threaten to do the opposite. Broad and vague guidelines that allow deportations for minor offenses will make immigrants who are the victims of crime even more reluctant to contact police for help, since doing so could result in the victim’s arrest and expulsion.
While the Trump administration insists it is not planning to carry out mass deportations, its plans to hire 10,000 new immigration agents and 5,000 new Border Patrol agents tell a different story . ...
Trump is going to an awful lot of expense to please his core supporters. Given his poor approval ratings, the president obviously is desperate for their approval. But there is no reason to spend that money. There is no reason to further isolate and demonize immigrants. Florida and the nation need immigration policies that are practical, compassionate and based on facts.
Instead, we’re getting policies based on Trump’s campaign promises. Which means we’re getting chaos and fear.