(IntegrityTimes.com) – Immigration has always been a complex issue and illegal immigration doubly so. In the past few years illegal immigration has skyrocketed in the US and it has become a political football with emotions running high. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or as it is more commonly known ICE, is a branch of the Department of Homeland Security created in 2003, whose mission is to combat the illegal movement of people and goods, to prevent terrorism in the U.S. and conduct humane immigration enforcement.
As a result of the anger and resentment many have towards ICE for enforcing immigration policies, many non-profit groups have sprung up demanding to abolish the department completely. One such group is the Detention Watch Network, whose stated focus is to end all detention of illegal immigrants believing that everyone crossing the border should be released on their own recognizance and provided with assistance and support for their immigration process.
On January 6, officials at ICE met with members of the Detention Watch Network for what they said was a meeting for “stakeholders” for opening up communication about their mission and their operations. The term stakeholder simply means a person or group who has an active interest in, or may be affected by, something they are not directly involved in. Being a stakeholder confers no legal rights to be involved in decision-making nor any obligation on any organization to involve or appease such interested parties.
Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director of the Detention Watch Network, posted on the social media platform X about the meeting which included ICE chief of staff Michael D. Lumpkin where she says she made her organization’s demands clear. Those demands include immediate ceasing of all immigration-related detention as well an eventual abolishment of ICE entirely. Her bio on X includes the hashtag “AbolishBorders”. Homeland Security’s report released in October indicates that 2023 was the worst year on record for illegal immigration with over 3.2 million encounters nationwide including 169 individuals who were on the terrorist watchlist.
Copyright 2024, IntegrityTimes.com