Pro

“Every year, nearly 200,000 non-citizens —many with kids who are U.S. citizens— are deported and torn away from their families even when a judge thinks they deserve to stay in the U.S. to help raise and support those families. In 1996, our immigration system made deportation a mandatory punishment for many non-citizens… judges do not have a say in deciding if deportation is fair… Families must choose between splitting up, resulting in more single parent households and psychological and financial hardship, or forcing their U.S. citizen children into deportation with them. These American children may have to start over in a country with a new language, fewer resources and an uncertain future. America’s immigration laws force American children to lose their parent, or their country. Mandatory deportation is a life sentence of exile. Such a severe ‘one size fits all’ punishment cannot be the basis of our immigration system.”

June 26, 2007