P resident Donald Trump has made aggressive approaches to alter current immigration polices for no other reason than an attempt to negotiate an archaic campaign policy at the expense of human compassion. He promised to build a wall along the border between the Unites States and Mexico.
A few days ago President Trump began referring to a long-standing U.S. immigration policy promoting family reunification as “chain migration”. Mr. Trumps specific terminology is being used in a defamatory and insulting tone to cast objectivity on those being marginalized by his new proposed immigration policy.
According to Ambassador James Brewster, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, he says, “President Trump once again is showing his racism toward other cultures and trying to shut our borders to those values and ideas that created the worlds greatest nation”. His expression of contempt and disapproval for human beings who have no other purpose but to build a better life for themselves and those around them is beyond being psychopathic. It is honestly non-human.
These are human beings who voluntarily registered their illegal status with Homeland Security with the understanding by doing so they would avoid the risk of deportation and ultimately find a path to legal resident status in the United States. Unfortunately by executive order President Trump has rescinded that promise by the previous administration and has demanded that the U.S. Congress negotiate a new path of legalization for these young people.
The challenge is President Trump is demanding that as a part of this legislation an agreement is made to fund the construction of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. This leaves a very uncertain future for those “Dreamers” who trusted the U.S. government to protect them providing they cooperated by self-identifying their status. As of October 5, 2017 the United States is no longer accepting new DACA applications and beginning early this year the clock will start ticking for those who are currently registered and their deportation will become imminent.
He said this referring to the current system that allows many immigrants to sponsor their extended family members, including spouses, children and parents. Of all the domestic terrorist attacks on U.S. soil involving mass shootings, not a single one was a result of family reunification immigration policies. Not ONE!
According to Ambassador Brewster:
"President Trump is wrong in saying that family reunification is a threat to the United States. Immigration from countries such as the Dominican Republic is what makes the U.S. a strong and stable democracy."
There is a fear-based culture that has concerned themselves with the untruth that every immigrant in the United States can bring every blood relative to the United States and this is simply false.
There is a very strict application process and required documentation that must be presented to not only begin the process of immigration but also it can take as long as twenty years for the final process to come to fruition. Under the current U.S. immigration system, not every relative can be sponsored for a green card. For example, uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents are not eligible for green cards through family-sponsored immigration. Only parents, spouses, children and siblings of U.S. Citizens and spouses and children of green card holders (lawful permanent residents) are eligible. Second, of those family members, only spouses, unmarried children under 21 and parents of U.S. citizens may be sponsored for a green card without being subject to any quota. All other applicants are subjected to certain annual numerical caps.
The comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate last year further restricts family-sponsored immigration by eliminating the ability of U.S. citizens to sponsor their siblings and adult children over the age of 30. In addition, it establishes a merit-based point system whereby intending immigrants can accumulate points for English language proficiency, education and skills, towards getting a green card. Ambassador Brewster says, “Dominicans should know as well as all others around the world the immigration rhetoric coming from the White House is not in line with the values of the majority of Americans. All countries should be inclusive societies, not exclusive Mr. Trump”. If these measures become U.S. law it will continue to restrict the opportunity for those applicants hoping to immigrate to the United States.
Trump is wrong and does not stand for the values of the majority Americans. Family reunification has always been, and should continue to be, a cornerstone of our immigration system. But how we define “family” is as equally important” said Ambassador Brewster. We need to continue to promote the idea of what being a “Dreamer” is, not just for immigrants but also for Americans instead of promoting that we all become afraid of inclusion.