Re: “ICE detains Marine Corps veteran’s wife who was still breastfeeding their baby” (June 22, Nation):
The detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of a woman with two young children, married to a U.S. Marine, is something most Americans will find cruel and unfair. This woman has no criminal record and poses no threat. But her detention follows from our president’s immigration views. Let’s rethink those.
Start with the word “illegal.” Many people conflate this with “immoral” or “evil” — it all just means “bad.” But “illegal” simply means “against the law.” The beer I drank last night would have been illegal during Prohibition. We decide what is legal.
Some crimes categorize a person (rapist, murderer) while others don’t (illegal parker). Entering the U.S. without documents is illegal, but this illegality gets conflated with evil.
This picture is false. Most people here illegally came to build better lives for their families. They make our lives better, too.
The act of crossing illegally makes you the kind of person willing, for your children’s future, to work dangerous jobs, live in poor conditions and risk deportation. Most Americans recognize these as admirable qualities.
Current law drives immigrants to break it. Then we all benefit from their work while doing little to help them. That’s what’s truly wrong.
William James Peria, Shoreline
