Where are our values on immigration policy?

Do you ask yourself why are we arresting undocumented immigrants and calling this OK? It’s not. 71.7% have no criminal convictions and many of those who do have a prior conviction are minor offenses. That’s 41,000 of the 57,000 that are illegally detained. 35% of the detainees have been in our country 15 years, 28% have been here 10 to 14 years. Only 15% have been here less than five years.

Those with Mexican or Hispanic culture are afraid to celebrate their heritage for fear ICE will invade their celebration and arrest them. Are the Irish afraid to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

What can we do? The barriers to citizenship are many, but we need to tackle them. 1) language barriers, 2) money, 3) lack of knowledge or understanding of the process, 4) the route is too complex, and 5) the backlog or a very long waiting period.

Can we fix this?

Instead of masked ICE agents, why not a crew of informed individuals helping the “want-to-be” citizens in their journey? We need offices to help applicants fill out forms. We should have a group to help with the financial burden of application. The government backlog is unforgivable. Set up offices to speed the process along. This would probably be much cheaper than running filthy detainee camps and hiring ICE officials.

Many American businesses are collapsing because of ICE officials taking away loyal employees who have brought success to their businesses. Farmers are begging for them to stay away. Detainees are leaving families unable to survive as the head of the household is deported.

Where are our values? Is this the America your grandparents and parents fought for when they immigrated to the United States?

Nancy Bachmann

Arlington Heights