The
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency announced this week that
deportations under Obama were the highest on record. In spite of the
official line of the Democratic Party, the Obama administration has
deported almost 400,000 undocumented immigrants in the 2011 fiscal
year.
Part
of the reason for this increase in deportations is an acceleration of
the so called “secure communities” initiative, which allows law
enforcement to run an arrestee’s fingerprints against FBI and
immigration databases. Another motivation is to get rid of workers no
longer needed due to the economic crisis.
In
this time of economic hardship, the government is scapegoating
immigrant workers, attempting to label them as a danger to society.
What is dangerous is xenophobia that attempts to distract U.S.
workers away from the problems caused by capitalism, and pits them
against fellow workers who are immigrants. Only with socialism can we
combat these racist and hateful policies, and build a society that
values all human beings.
