The Immigration Debate Continues While Citizen Children Continue to Lose Their Fathers to Deportation

President Obama reaffirms his commitment to immigration reform at last Friday's Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, a move anticipated by a June 18th New York Times editorial, which addressed the president with a tone that stopped just short of censure: "If you accept legalization for the undocumented as desirable and inevitable, then why continue to put them through hell?" The NYT also published two letters written in response to the immigration editorial. Mr. Mark Wilson of Omaha, Nebraska, bases his argument against a "path to citizenship" on the following accusations: "Illegal immigrants drive down wages, burden local health systems and cause other ill-desired impacts to our economy and country." However, Mr. Wilson overlooks the Catch-22 that a path to citizenship could be one of the very solutions to American employers' practice of employing undocumented immigrants at below minimum wage level. Furthermore, he fails to note that undocumented immigrants are ineligible for non-emergency care unless they pay. His argument is weak on statistical grounds. A study by Harvard economist George Borjas (who is no less than a vehement opponent of undocumented immigration), for example, has shown that the average American's wealth is increased by less than one percent due to illegal immigration. NPR's Adam Davidson explored the relationship between illegal immigration and the U.S. economy in a 2006 column, and recently Families for Freedom produced a TV show addressing immigration myths.

The Associated Press reports on the lawsuit by more than one hundred children in Miami against the Obama Administration for the deportation of their parents. In honor of Father's Day, New American Media spotlights Roxroy Salmon, the father of four U.S.-born children and thirty-year resident of New York City, who is currently placed under deportation proceedings. Families for Freedom organized its Annual Children's Vigil on the eve of Father's Day at Union Square in New York City, attracting a crowd despite the heavy rain, and featured speakers including Councilman John Liu, and representatives from Congressman Serrano and State Senator Serrano's offices. The Vigil advocated for the passage of the Child Citizen Protection Act, H.R. 182, and included the distribution of petitions in support of the legislation.

-Rain