Monday, Jorge Ramos appeared on Fox News’ Hannity to discuss immigration issues. During a heated back-and-forth in which both Hannity and Ramos presented differing arguments regarding the financial and criminal issues surrounding illegal immigration, Ramos held up a picture of a family, and tore it in half:
“Guadalupe García, she’s been in this country for 22 years. Look what Donald Trump did [tears photograph, separating Garcia from her two children]. This is what Donald Trump did. These kids–Jaqueline, 14, legally, born in the United States. Angel, legally a U.S. citizen. So, this is exactly what Donald Trump, the deportation czar, has been doing–dividing, destroying American families.”
According to CNN, Guadalupe García “was arrested in 2008 during a workplace raid and convicted one year later of felony criminal impersonation.” Garcia had been using a fraudulent Social Security number (SSN) for her employment, which is a class 6 felony.
After her conviction she appealed a court order to voluntarily deport and lost. She became the subject of a removal order in 2013 and was placed court-ordered supervision, which required her to report on a provided schedule to an ICE office until her order of removal was “affected,” or acted on.
García allegedly showed up to all of her annual check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). When she arrived for her yearly check-in Wednesday, she was detained, and deported the following day.
García was an illegal immigrant who committed a felony. As such, she was deported. Her two children, having been born in the United States, are American citizens, and thus not subject to deportation.
Many people are disturbed by this situation–a mother taken away from her children. However, as painful as it is, the United States is a sovereign nation, and a nation of laws. Guadalupe García twice violated the law: first by entering the country illegally, then by using a fake SSN to obtain employment.
There are those who advocate a path to legalized status for people like Guadalupe García, who have come here illegally, but committed no serious crimes. There are others who take a more hardline approach. Until a consensus is reached in Washington as to how illegal immigrants are to be dealt with, the law will be, and must be, followed as it is written.