Two recent Supreme Court decisions have had a great effect on immigration.
First, the Supreme Court affirmed that birthright citizenship has been enshrined in the practice of our country from the beginning, and that the 14th Amendment solidified that practice in the Constitution.
The second decision, also based on law rather than partisan politics, states that the president has executive power to issue and withdraw Temporary Protected Status (TPS). They also found insufficient evidence that the Trump administration violated the proper procedures in terminating TPS for Haiti and Syria. Unfortunately, it is not the purview of the Supreme Court to advise an administration on what country conditions make a return unreasonable for refugees.
But what are the reasons for this program of mass deportation?
The administration has presented several reasons, including benefits consumption. However, one study found that immigrants, legal and undocumented, consume 24% less in entitlement benefits than native born Americans. And, even more telling, is that undocumented immigrants consume 53% less welfare than native born Americans.
In general, low-wage earners admitted to the U.S. need assistance given their salary status. In fact, little is given to support these low-wage earners essential to our economy in sectors like construction, agriculture, and health care.
The Trump administration also argues that undocumented immigrants are taking jobs that Americans could fill. However, two major studies completed this year agree that the present crackdown has done little to create meaningful benefits for American workers, nor has it created widespread disruptions in the labor market.
However, the crackdown has impacted industries, such as agriculture and construction, which depend upon the work of immigrant workers.
The impact of mass deportations has yet to be generally felt. However, it seems that we have returned to the racist policies of 1924, when our country closed the door to certain immigrants, namely Southern and Eastern Europeans, to preserve the heritage of those whose ancestors were here before the turn of the 19th century. Again, this racist ideology is resurrected today and is the only logical reason such drastic policies are being implemented.
Unfortunately, the Haitian population here on TPS, given the impossibility of returning to a failed nation-state, has become the poster child for this inhuman deportation program. It has been reported that several flights have already returned to Haiti with captives in shackles and with only the clothes on their backs.
The moral implications of these ill-conceived mass deportation programs have been brought to our attention by Pope Leo XIV, who reminds us that “human dignity has no passport,” so that it may be protected.
Until the American public realizes the drastic mark that will be left on our national conscience and strongly opposes this policy, these deportation programs will continue.
The enforcement methods being used, namely traffic stops, workplace raids, courthouse arrests, and illegally obtained data, should concern us all.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, who served as the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, is continuing his research on undocumented migration in the United States.