It can be an interesting debate when you start discussing what’s happening with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). In the reading area of this newspaper, some companies may employ people who are not originally from this country and may not have legitimate paperwork that would prove their citizenship status. There is a chance that the company may not know whether the paperwork is genuine or counterfeit. Since I am over 1,500 miles from the ROCORI area, I don’t know if there have been ICE raids on any companies, but I do know there have been raids here in Florida – more specifically, right here in The Villages.
A couple of weeks ago, ICE raided a new construction area south of our home and arrested (detained) nearly 40 workers. Not long before that, there was a male construction worker arrested who was wanted in a murder case – that worker had been in this area for more than a dozen years.
There’s a mixture of feelings about this situation. Nobody wants criminals among us, but criminals don’t make up the majority of those here illegally. In the area we live in now, the majority of the labor is done by people from Mexico and those of Asian descent. Those people work hard and are known to send money back to their families. Yet many are here illegally. One side of the argument is to say, “let them be, we need them here to do the work. Work not many want to do.” The other side of the argument would say, “If they want to be here, they should do what they need to do to become citizens or get their work visas, so they are here legally.”
I question why companies that hire a large number of people who come here from other countries don’t set up a program to help the people they want to employ become citizens.
I did some research into the requirements of becoming a U.S. citizen, and the process is lengthy and somewhat complex, so I can understand why it might feel overwhelming, but it’s not impossible.
I can’t imagine what it must feel like to know you are here illegally and have to be constantly looking over your shoulder, but if it’s important to be here, then it should be important to do it legally.
I would guess the number of illegal immigrants is staggering, and the task of checking their status is daunting, but President Trump made a campaign promise he appears to be keeping, and I believe that ICE raids will continue.
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Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would start cracking down on all those people trying to scam us out of our hard-earned money? And when they were caught, they should be required to do jail time, or get a legitimate job and contribute to the economy.
Have A Good Week!
