As the world watches agog news of National Guardsmen and even the Marines being deployed to Los Angeles to counter protests over deportations of undocumented (and in several cases fully documented) migrants, the Register offers a reflection from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, the retired Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, on how the Trump administration’s approach to immigration equates to “using a machete instead of a scalpel.” 

Although most people would consider the United States a nation of immigrants, consistent with our immigration history, there also has been a history of deportation, a history that begins with the now-controversial 1798 Alien Enemies Act.

The original purpose of this act was to deport leftover British sympathizers. However, unfortunately, it has resurrected itself today as an excuse to deport any group that might be considered a threat to the nation.

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One of the basic problems with deportation is that it is not mentioned in the Constitution and has now largely become the province of the executive branch of government, often without the normal balance of powers. The use of deportation to remove criminal aliens, especially violent felons, does not disturb most people. However, the lack of basic due process mechanisms and the flimsy evidence used to deport someone—such as simply wearing a tattoo—is bothersome.

Congressional oversight of executive office functions has been put to the test in the current administration, with the limits of executive power being expanded, especially in the area of immigration. Congress must do a better job of oversight to protect against executive overreach, including by passing legislation strengthening due process protections in deportation proceedings.

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Deportations mostly occur when illegal border crossings of unauthorized migrants are detected and stopped. But it seems that deportation is now being extended to other unauthorized individuals, even those who have paid their Social Security contributions and taxes, as well as to permanent residents who do not have the protections of citizenship. The overextension of deportation will undoubtedly affect permanent residents, and even citizens, as there is a certain mindset in the current administration that migrants are not an asset to our nation.

The issue of illegal entry into the United States has become an excuse for a mass deportation campaign, which has just begun. The reason given by the administration for this massive deportation scheme has been the removal of criminal aliens. But, unfortunately, it is beginning to extend much further.

An objective view would certainly see that there is scapegoating of the unauthorized migrants as a source of uncontrolled expenditures on their behalf. Most analysts argue that immigrants generally are a net gain to any country that can attract them, especially if the labor markets need them. Second, the vast majority of immigrants do not commit crimes, as the percentage of criminal activity among aliens is by far less than the criminal activity of native-born Americans.

It would seem reasonable, as a nation, that America needs to take a step back from headlong, mass deportations and analyze the problem that deportation is trying to solve. Mass deportation is akin to using a machete on a problem instead of a scalpel, with the result being the removal of contributing immigrants and their families, to the detriment of national interests.

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As a nation, America can improve its approach by providing legal status to individuals who have contributed to our labor market and to their children, who are part of a nation's future. It also must include those who have been offered safe haven in temporary protected status and others who cannot safely return to their home countries for many varied and real reasons of safety.

America becomes the first among nations when it does not turn its back on our long history of immigration.