The Zeitgeist Shifts

[Lonestarblue]

5. I fear that too many people just assume that all migrants are in the US illegally.

The media does everyone a disservice when they fail to report that millions of migrants are here legally. Our laws allow refugees and migrants to apply for asylum. Those who do can live in the US legally until an immigration judge hears their case and either grants asylum or issues an order for deportation. ICE cannot legally deport anyone without that order. What they can do, unfortunately, is imprison them until their hearing. There is actually very little advantage to the government to imprison asylees awaiting their court hearings. But Republicans love to throw tax dollars at the private prison industry, thus Trump’s push to imprison as many as possible, including children.

Many of the people ICE is dragging off to jail, and causing their deaths there, are awaiting asylum hearings. I wish the media would explain why they are here legally.