The Face of Immigration

Jorge Garcia was deported to Mexico last Monday after 30 years of living in metro Detroit. Garcia was brought to the United States undocumented at age 10. He works as a landscaper, has never been convicted of a crime, has a wife and two teenage daughters all of whom are American citizens. Too old for DACA protection, Garcia's wife says that the family has spent $125,000 in legal costs since 2005 trying to find a path for Garcia to legally remain in the country.

Living in plain sight as a working member of the community made easy pickings for the lazy thugs passing themselves off as agents in the Detroit Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. If President Donald Trump's statements about the sheer number of dangerous illegals in the country were true, ICE should have it's hands full corralling and deporting them at a pace that should make Garcia a pretty low priority.

ICE isn't overwhelmed on that front because Trump's statements are not true. The national debate around immigration, DACA, and enforcement is no longer a debate. The GOP side of the argument is based on lies. It's not possible to debate an untruth it's only possible to defend against it.

It's easy to armchair the Garcia case by saying the law is the law and Garcia was here illegally. While justice may be blind, it doesn't also have to be deaf and dumb. The law is imperfect. At best, it needs revision to accommodate the gray areas that have built up due to the imperfections; at worst it, violates the spirit of the constitution, the words at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty, and common decency.

Garcia's deportation may have been legal but it was far from just. The human face and family toll must not be overlooked as armchair pundits and hardliners bloviate from afar. How many immigration reform advocates could examine the situation, look Garcia's daughters in they eye, and tell them face to face their father is a criminal unworthy of this country? The only person unworthy of this country in such a scenario would be a person capable of saying that to those girls.

ICE agents did just that. Of course, they were just following orders. It's the classic Nuremberg defense, it's sickening, and begs the question of exactly what level of atrocity are these people capable.

The government is now closed as the battle over immigration reform and DACA escalates. It's a battle between those who value the importance of immigration and compassion versus a President and a Republican party that by all measure are xenophobic.

Jorge Garcia is just one of the faces of immigration. Another can be found in a mirror. Is the one seen there one capable of telling Garcia's daughters their father is not worthy? Is it capable of telling Dreamers to leave the only country they've ever known? If not, demand Republicans come back to the table with facts, not Trump lies, and find a truly American solution.