Corinne Ramey
ICE’s Newest Trick: Deporting High School Valedictorians
I've written about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials' schoolyard antics before, but the recent news that ICE is planning to deport a California high school valedictorian just affirms my view that these immigration authorities need to get out of the schools. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
The valedictorian at Fresno's Bullard High School won't be attending college in the United States this fall because he's scheduled to be deported.Seventeen-year-old Arthur Mkoyan's 4.0 grade-point average qualified him to enter one of the state's top universities. But he and his mother have been ordered back to Armenia after their last appeal for asylum failed. The family fled from what used to be part of the Soviet Union and has been seeking asylum since 1992.
But, rest assured, ICE shows its nice side once in a while (and if it's not clear, I'm being sarcastic here). As a sort of consolation prize, ICE decided to let Arthur stick around for graduation. According to the article, "A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says they were given an extension until June 20 so Mkoyan could attend his graduation ceremony."
This past October, the Senate tried to help out students like Arthur, but to no avail. Legislation called the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act -- better know as the DREAM Act -- was introduced in the Senate, but failed a procedural vote. The legislation would have allowed Arthur and approximately 65,000 other undocumented students a path to citizenship and the opportunity for a college education. But unfortunately for Arthur, the legislation failed.
Arthur's story and that of the DREAM Act are just two examples of what amounts to an utterly inconsistent immigration policy. Whether ICE wants to admit it or not, undocumented immigrants are here to stay, and an enforcement-only policy that consists of random deportations just isn't going to cut it. According to a recently-released report by the Public Policy Institute of California, Immigrant Pathways to Legal Permanent Residence: Now and Under a Merit-Based System, more than half of the immigrants in California who have legal permanent resident status were at some point undocumented. This number is 42% for the U.S. as a whole. These immigrants -- both documented and undocumented -- are a vital part of the nation's economy and the fabric of our nation. Deporting smart students like Arthur -- especially considering that such a huge percentage of immigrants eventually receive legal status -- is not only bad for the immigrant community, but for the nation as a whole.
For a slightly happier immigration story, check out this video of DMI scholar and Mexican immigrant Samantha Contreras. Samantha was undocumented when she graduated from high school, and soon realized the hardships associated with being undocumented.. "I learned the reality of my immigration status," she said. "I couldn't work, I couldn't go to college, I couldn't drive, I couldn't even get a Blockbuster membership card." Unlike Arthur's story, Samantha's has a happy ending -- an immigrant rights group helped her to enroll in college, and now she strives for a career in public policy.
Corinne Ramey: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 7:26 AM, Jun 07, 2008 in Immigration
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Comments
i just can't believe the system. the INS wants to deport a decent young 4.0 high school grad who got ACCEPTED in a top school in CA. Over a year ago an ILLEGAL MEXICAN IMMIGRANT with NO driver' license, NO insurance, NO NOTHING was driving ILLEGALLY and he RAN a stop sign and hit and KILLED 4 people from one family who were on their way to O'Charley's to eat to celebrate closing on a home eariler that day. a grandmother, granddaughter and mother were killed and a friend and the other granddaughter survived with serious injuries. guess how much time he spent in jail. 4 MONTHS! and they did not even deport him. this happened in Huntsville, Alabama. so as far as i know he is still driving and drinking in north alabama. i pray that he is not. i can't believe they want to deport this young man and his mother. they are crazy as betsybugs. i am praying for you son that you will not go. God bless you and your family. God will take care of you.
Posted by: lukebandit | June 8, 2008 11:58 AM
Who cares if he is a smart kid...the fact is he is illegal. Regardless of your situation if you or your family on your behalf broke law then you need to go.
Every single person that chooses to relocate to the U.S ilegally also chooses to have there life and all of there accomplishements stripped away at anytime if they get caught by ICE.
Shame on this kids parents for taking him here without legal status.....they are the one's we should be discussing....they put this kid through this.
As much as illegals contribute to society they weigh our country down. ICE is always plastered through the news when a "succesful" person is deported but they hardley ever report on all of the criminals/gang members ICE removes everyday. I would love for ICE to go away and to have one of these gang members knock on the door of the person who wrote this article...then maybe then we would think twice about the mission of ICE.
Posted by: Rob | June 9, 2008 01:00 PM
Dear Rob,
I feel you are incredibly mistaken. It's people like this valedictorian that contribute to make America a better place. What you are talking about is deporting someone that had no say in where he was going to live at the age of two. Let his mother be deported if she's the one that committed the crime. For the same reason that you cannot beat a two-year old shamelessly if they've done something wrong, you cannot fault the valedictorian who's done nothing but to aspire more than to live the american dream. What doesn't make sense to me is we are in a war where we are trying to implement freedom in other countries where it doesnt exist, and yet we can't implement that same principle here where we live. We criticize other countries and their policies and yet fail to look at our own problems and deal with it. Instead we find a way to prioritize spending on trying to enforce our way of life where others do not want it...where here in this country, there are others making sacrifices to live that way of life and we deny it. Can you explain that to me? because i dont think you can. If you were muslim and were two years old and had your finger cut off for stealing an eraser would you think that justice was served because you didnt know any beter when you had committed a crime? i didnt think so.
Posted by: enelia | July 6, 2008 06:55 AM