Justice for the Children

As an immigrant I am especially interested in the ongoing immigration debate. I still feel that the single biggest problem is the backlog in the system due to a lack of congressional funding but another issue came to my attention last week.

A young man in Arizona who has been in the country since seven years of age voluntarily went back to Mexico to try and immigrate legally. He was brought here, as a child, by his mother. He was educated in Arizona and graduated last year with an engineering degree from Arizona State. His wife and child remain in the US legally and he is being denied permission to immigrate. His hardship petition was denied. What does USCIS define as hardship? Is it not a hardship on his family to be separated from their husband and father?

Apart from the hardship argument another question must be asked in cases such as this. Should a child who is brought here illegally by their parents be held responsible for their unlawful presence? Since when are children held responsible for the crimes or sins of their parents? If the child is raised and educated in the US from an early age and becomes an adult who contributes to society and has committed no crimes, why should he or she be forced to return to a country they do not know. They had no choice in coming here and should not be treated as if they did.

Children of illegals who are raised here should be allowed to stay and not be held to the same standards as their parents. This is one issue that must be addressed in any proposed immigration reform.