Since the
Trump administration took over the White House, it could be argued that immigrants and the children of foreign nationals in the USA have been made to feel alienated and unwanted. As well as his ongoing promise to build a wall to keep the "bad hombres" out of the states, the president has also made efforts to rescind DACA, and it's reported that he made it very clear what he thinks about certain "s**thole countries".
For his supporters, it might be easy to throw out excuses as to why certain people shouldn't be allowed to stay in the country while others get to enjoy its luxuries due to the happy coincidence that they were born there; but, for the families who have worked hard and done all they could to assimilate into the USA, being told that they have to "go home" is an incredibly painful experience.
This was particularly harrowing for one man from Michigan, who was told that - after living in America for three decades - he would have to return to Mexico.
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Jorge Garcia, who first came to the states with an undocumented relative when he was just 10-years-old, was forced to say goodbye to his wife and two children - all of whom are American citizens - and fly to Mexico on Monday. Images of him embracing his family at the airport quickly circulated on the internet, and caused many to question exactly why this man wasn't allowed to stay.
After all, it's not as if he didn't try to attain a legal status. Having been brought here at such a young age, Garcia had no real control or understanding of whether he was or was not legally allowed to reside in the states - but, in 2005, he and his wife tried to "fix his paperwork" in order to make sure he was complying with U.S. laws.
Unfortunately, Garcia was just one year too old to qualify for DACA, and his notifying the state that he was of Mexican origin actually began deportation proceedings.
He faced his first removal order in 2009, but his deportation was stayed during the Obama administration in order to give his family time to find a way for him to get legal status. Now that the government has changed hands, however, that time is up.
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“I got to leave my family behind, knowing that they’re probably going to have a hard time adjusting," Garcia said before leaving. "Me not being there for them for who knows how long - it’s just hard.”
His wife is also distraught by the ruling, and can't understand how the system would allow an American family to get split up like this. “I am a U.S. citizen and it is affecting me. We tried to do things the right way,” said Cindy Garcia. “We tried and he got sent back to a country he does not know.”
Speaking with CNN, she added:
“His case needs to be looked at individually because he deserves to be here in a country that he’s known, not Mexico,” she explained, going on to say that there are many other families in similar situations.
“It affects 11 million other people,” she said, “but at least I can come forward and tell my story because I am a U.S. citizen and I do not have to hide in any shadows.”
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As someone who has never broken the law, always paid his taxes and raised a family in the USA, it seems absurd that Jorge Garcia could be so heartlessly turned away.
However, since
Trump enforced strict new policies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are cracking down on undocumented immigrants.
"As ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan has made clear, ICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States," said an ICE spokesperson in a statement.
Garcia could be held in Mexico for at least 10 years under the deportation order, but his wife has said she will do all she can to bring him back before then.
