CNN recently aired a story about how a U.S. immigration-screening officer by the name of Isaac Baichu, 46, is being charged with felony charges after allegedly forcing a female immigrant to perform oral sex in exchange for the approval of her green card.
After hearing the article, I was disgusted because I am an immigrant myself.
It is true that the practice of human exploitation has been practiced throughout human history. African tribes would enslave those whom they conquered during pre-colonial times. The American foundation was based off slavery. Even Thomas Jefferson, an American founding father, was said to have countless slaves.
Regardless, such practices are wrong and immoral. It’s hard to believe that after 200 years have passed since our nation’s creation, people are still taking advantage of those who are in difficult situations.
The social group that seems to be affected the most is immigrants. It is a known fact that hundreds of people come to America legally and illegally because they all have one goal in life, which is to better themselves however they can.
It’s rare to find an immigrant who says that he or she is willing to return to his or her home country. People like Carlos Mencia have made hundreds of dollars using deportation as one of their comedy angles, but immigrants don’t run from migrant police for kicks; they run because they’re afraid that someone’s going to take them back to the place where they lived in fear of poverty, crime, and sometimes their own government.
Getting back to the U.S. is no easy task either. That truth applies for legal and illegal immigration.
Paper work for the immigration process takes time and money that some immigrants just don’t have because of harsh living conditions.
To come here illegally, people try many methods. Whether it is paying someone to guide them across a desert or taking on the fury of the sea, these methods all usually involve risking their own lives.
People go to great lengths to come here, and if they’re caught and don’t have the necessary paperwork, the law possesses the right to deport them. What’s unbelievable is that the woman in the CNN story had all the necessary paper work and, to the public’s knowledge, nothing was out of order with it, and yet Baichu threatened not to approve her visa and rip her away from her family unless she performed oral sex against her will.
What’s sad is that even after the public has heard of stories like this happening in America, a similar act is occurring to someone with immigration status, and he or she is too afraid of our government to step forward because he or she is afraid of what may happen.
Immigration authorities should not solicit freedom
April 9, 2008
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