La Migra!

On Friday, February 10, 2017, The Washington Post published an article called, "Federal agents conduct sweeping immigration enforcement raids in at least 6 states.” This article describes raids and checkpoints held by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California, Texas, North Carolina, New York, and Kansas. It states that immigration activists have “documented ICE raids of unusual intensity in the last 48 hours” in these 6 states. The article brings reason to believe that these actions could “be retaliation for those cities’ so-called ‘sanctuary city’ policies.” 

The raids began Thursday night after the decision by the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court decided to keep a hold of Trump's travel and immigration ban. Ice is not only targeting criminals, but is taking anyone that they encounter that is not able to prove citizenship. It was stated that people are being stopped at random and asked to provide proof of citizenship. Protesters are making a stand, and non-profit agencies are doing what they can to provide legal representation to those affected.

I had originally picked an article from the BBC to write about, but as I scrolled through social media I was made aware of these raids happening in my mother’s neighborhood. I initially dismissed the claims; I know how people can exaggerate, and then I started to hear about it more and more. When I read this article, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I started to worry about my friends that are immigrants and their families. I know that they have citizenship, but what if they are caught without proof. I can't imagine living in fear of being separated from my family, or being taken from my home and deported to a country I never knew. Many of these people have lived long lives here, and I know that there are laws that they should follow to gain citizenship. It is also costly to gain citizenship, and many of these people can only afford to support their most urgent needs.