Democratic Candidates Promise No Deportation of Illegal Immigrants Unless Having Criminal Records. A Good or Bad Move?

Elise Foley, a well-experienced immigration and politics reporter for the Huffington Post, writes about the massive promise made by Bernie Sander and Hilary Clinton to refuse deportation of children or adults without criminal records. Intended audiences throughout the article are advocates, immigrants, and U.S. citizens. Advocates have now gained a major tool in the fight against deportations if one of the democratic candidates is elected president. Both Hilary and Bernie criticized President Obama and his take on deportation in America, believing it is the wrong approach. Clinton also added in that undocumented people in the country should be given a path to citizenship. However, a great deal of speculation is taken when considering Clinton’s statement in 2014, as she said that unaccompanied minors “should be sent back” to their native countries and that the nation’s asylum should be followed. These points together make it seem as if her promise is somewhat contradictory. I agree with the author in the claim that “although the rate of deportations in general has gone down from record highs in the early years of his presidency, it’s not enough to prevent every family from being ripped apart or to allow ever person who asks for asylum in the U.S. to stay." The bold promises will be extremely difficult to keep and it was not a good decision to make because they are now accountable to it forever. The author believes the promises could turn to act negatively toward the candidates in the future and I completely agree. In my subjective opinion, I would almost guarantee that an issue in regards to immigration will come up, thus causing them to break their promises. Immigration is becoming an increasingly discussed issue every single day and the two candidates ignorantly decided to make one of the most difficult promises to keep while also being in favor of the non-U.S. citizens. If unaccompanied minors are turned away at the border, which is the main concern, advocates have the weapon of throwing this promise in either Clinton's on Sanders' face. Illegal immigration could very well turn out to hurt American citizens in regards to a lower job hiring rate, unpaid taxes, collapsed healthcare systems, etc. While America prides itself on welcoming new people and joining together as a unity, the blanket promise could prove to be quite the rash decision in future years to come.