members are not asking for a change in the policy. but adjustment to how it is executed. The CARICOM members understand that residence permits are a privilege granted to noncitizens contingent on their good behavior. Clearly. the commission of a crime does not constitute good behavior. However. mothers and fathers are being separated from their families without making the appropriate provisions for the welfare of children who remain in our country. Those repatriated sometimes have no support units in their country of citizenship and are forced into a life of poverty. as well as stigmatized for being deported. In addition. the families they leave behind are left with huge legal bills or in situations where they have to fend off poverty. It is my contention that poverty is a threat to the national security of the United States. The Human Rights Watch in their July 2007 Report entitled "Forced Apart Families Separated and Immigrants Harmed by United States Deportation Policy." stated that since 1996 approximately 1.6 million families have been torn apart by the U.S. deportation policies. The top ten countries of origin for noncitizens removed on criminal grounds represent Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico being the most affected of these nations. with over 500.000 Mexican nationals being repatriaed between FY 1997 and FY 2005. Haiti. the poorest nation in our hemisphere. is among the top 10 with over 3.000 individuals being returned to that nation. Many parents explained that their children. the vast majority of whom had been left in the deporting country. faced extreme hardships. both emotionally and financially. These are American children that are forced into situations where they have to abandon school to support their families. These are American children sometimes forced to live in singleparent households or households without a parent.
Keywords matched
Deportation deporting Immigrants noncitizens deportation deported