The first issue that must urgently be addressed is the lack of a humane approach to the many undocumented immigrants who have lived for a long time in the United States. Currently, these immigrants are subject to deportation at any moment, often causing long-term family separation or breaking up families entirely. It is nearly impossible to introduce family hardship as a mitigating factor in deportation cases, which generally assign penalty periods of 10 years or more, during which the deported migrants are ineligible to apply for any type of visa to enter the United States.
No other country in the world has been as aggressive or harsh in its treatment of such large numbers of long-term undocumented immigrants as the United States, which also expels significant quantities of undocumented migrants and focuses much of its attention on asylum seekers.
No other country except the United States has been as unrelenting in breaking up families, nor has any other nation maintained such large numbers of childhood arrivals.
Nor has any other nation been as unforgiving of its noncitizen military veterans, who get deported from the United States for committing criminal offenses, including some minor drug offenses. There was a US Navy veteran who was brought to the United States at age one and eventually obtained legal permanent residency. He served respectfully and proudly in the US military and was stationed in the Middle East. After his discharge, he lost his way, ending up being convicted in federal court on a marijuana charge, which automatically triggered his deportation.
