Illegal Immigration in California: Possible Solution for Families

In recent years, the deportation of illegal or undocumented immigrants in California has reached record breaking numbers, and it is estimated that nearly a quater of the nations undocummented population resised in califronia. This is significant for numerous reasons, most specifically because a huge portion of these individuals are parents. Parents being returned to their countries is a dilemma that is not being explored enough. The problem of illegal immigration needs to have a solution, so the aim for this essay is to explore the issue of undocumented immigrants in California and what can be done to solve it. 

The moment that an individual is deported, the deportation affects not only the person being deported but the individual’s family and friends as well. The separation of families is usually neglected from immigration discourse and policies, this can be overseen by many but indeed carries consequences for all involved. Although the large impact of deportation, and California being the state with the highest number of undocumented individuals (about 25% of the undocumented popluation), there is very little articles or information on the issue from the family’s point of view. This portrays the neglect and ignorance that people in California have had, not only to recognize the problem but also finding a solution to the problem. Some momentary or sudden solutions are: counseling, physcologist, and housing for families, and some more permanent solutions must come from the root of the problem which is immigration itself. To further improve and protect from illegal immigration as well as reform deportation policies.

There are Numerous Ways Deportation an Affect Families

While a person is unexpectedly deported, their abrupt departure creates a split in the family that has severe and long-lasting implications. Children are some of the most affected individuals in these situations. There are short as well as long term changes in the emotional state of the child, such as a high increase in anxiety, depression, anger, and long periods of crying. The separation from their parents can be a traumatic experience for young and old children. Depending on the age of the child is how the separation will affect the child. The attachment theory suggests that the relationship between a kid and his parents is nurtured and developed throughout the developmental years of a child, and this separation can instill a lot of stress in the child. As exemplified by Saul Mcleon, talking about the attachment theory of John Bowlby, when a kid is separated from their parents or guardians the child’s process of attachment is interrupted and this relationship build up is virtually interrupted. The older the kid the better his or her ability to cope with the situation is. Although people from all ages are indeed still affected, and surprisingly even adults have similar effects to that of a child (depression, anxiety, stress, and anger). The young are affected in less time and the older are affected after a longer amount of time, but eventually all experience separation anxiety.

Separation anxiety is a big leading factor in mental illnesses like depression. Many parents even go to the extent of lying to children of their deportation just to save the child from the grave stress and anxiety it will cause them. These children do not have the fault in the slightest. For them to experience such extreme situations is completely unfair and unjust. The extreme stress caused by migration can cause individuals to experience grief and a sense of loss as well. If left unattended to, these feelings can cause depression. Some may say a quick solution to the problem is bringing everyone in the family to the new country, but as seen in many refugees, the movement to a new country is a very stressful situation as well, the loss of their old home, the feeling of being “trapped” in their new home, and the unjust or forced deportation of the completely legal children. A person may also feel loneliness and anxiety over the wellbeing of their family. In various cases PTSD may also be a result of these deportations. Despite the fact that loss influences people of any age it is mainly hard for the young to deal with the absence of their guardians for the reason that kids are in need of parental care in order to offer for their basic needs emotional support and housing. kids are incapable to fully recognize and grasp the complexity of the situation. not able to get closure and pressured to assume the worst most of the time kids of refugees fight with constant feelings of inexplicable loss and grief. This can be compared to families in times of war, where kids must be separated from their parents for long periods of time or in some cases permanently due to the need of soldiers and their fathers being forced to leave. Or even in the Holocaust where countless families were ruptured and permanently damaged and scared due to seperation. In both these cases PTSD as well as depression are possible outcomes. Another way that families as well as everyone living in california are affected by the separation of families in deportation is financially. In California nearly one in ten workers are undocummented, and when they are deported California loses money, approximately ten percent of their workers, and taxes as well. This will also affect the stability of the individuals family. Upon leaving their family left behind will most likely not have a source of income. This will put their family either in the streets or may even force people like teens to dropout of school in order to contribute financially. I can personally vouch for all the information above because I am a first generation immigrant. Both of my parents entering legally, but my grandmother was indeed an illegal immigrant and then went through the process of naturalization. When I was young my grandmother did receive a deportation order and for some time both me and my family were completely shattered, and I lived in fear that maybe we were going to join my grandmother back in mexico to not have her be alone. This then revealed to me that the shortage of implementation of altruistic policies of deportation impedes family members from being capable of preparation for a parent being gone from the child's life virtually forever, consequently causing them to be in danger of the numerous effects of deportation.

Conclusion

The ability to implement policies that consider all possible effects of deportation is where the root of the problem lies. A permanent solution to this problem would be to reform the current policy to first give the family ample time to prepare for deportation if there is no possible way to avoid deportation. Secondly, look into the possibility of naturalization of the individual after a thorough background check to see if they have any record of felonies or law breaking. Once the background check is passed they must then be punished accordingly for illegal immigration, which that can be up to the judge. Whether that be community service or even jail time. Because even jail time would be better in the sense that although it may possibly affect the family financially, the separation anxiety is partially avoided due to visits, and the family has a little more room to grow and rebuild. Another more sudden resolve to the problem is give counseling, phycologists, housing and food to the family left behind, and then they can decide if they would like to join their deported family members. The most important and effective solution to this would be to avoid the problem all together and find a solution to illegal immigration, and solve the problem before it even starts. This may include lowering the costs of immigration into the country. Because one of the main reasons people immigrate into california is as refuge from horrible living conditions of their prior country. Knowing that, the ability to pay for such fees is virtually impossible and they are left no choice. We must keep the background checks on our immigration laws strict, if not maybe even stricter to make up for the lower prices, and lower the fees to process everything in order to allow almost everyone to be able to pay for immigration and at the same time allowing only good people into the country. All of the solutions provided will have a positive outcome for everyone in anyway you look at it. The only negative is a slight loss of money from lowering immigration prices, but this is easily balanced when the people come in and work and pay taxes.