research paper

Based on the American government zero tolerance policy was not a hundred percent responsible for the prosecutions of the adult immigrants who were apprehended at the border. The government of the United States opted to prosecute parents who were traveling with their children over the adult immigrants who were on their own. This was quite a sharp contrast of the policy compared to the previous administration in which immigrant parents who were traveling with children were criminally prosecuted. The trump’s administration had provided a statement about a year in advance, which stated that it was putting into consideration separating families to ensure that they would not enter the United States. As the American government began to separate families, it also separated families which had legally migrated to the United States even before the zero tolerance had been announced in the 2018 April. Based on the research which was conducted by Human rights watch the separation of families was a way to only punish the families of the immigrants but it was not the intention of the zero tolerance policy. The policy has been condemned by several American Entities such as the American College of Physician. American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American Psychiatric Association, the entities asserted that the separation of families contributed to causing irreparable harm to the immigrant children. Also, several religious groups, as well as figures, also came out opposing the policy. Also, about 40 senators of the Democratic party wrote a letter to the president requesting him to remove the policy because it was unethical, ineffective, and inhumane policy and it never prioritized approaches that aligned with the American humanitarian and American values. By June 2018 a national protest was conducted and it attracted many protesters from all 50 states of the United States.

Due to the separation of families as a way to punish the immigrants' families, Trump’s administration violated the human rights which attracted the attention of the public both locally as well as internationally (Breslow 2015, N.P). Trump’s government was focusing on prosecuting only the immigrant parents who were traveling with their children only. They also in some way violated the rights of children to be with their parents. Incriminating the illegal immigrants is a legal action and every country is required to develop rules and regulations that must be followed when an individual is immigrating to the particular country, but the United States even though they had developed the zero tolerance policy which would ensure that the illegal immigration would be eradicated, they went an extra mile to violate the rights of the immigrant families by separating them from their children.

Current situation

The policy on immigration basically on the illegal immigration to the American nation was one of President’s Trump signatures during his presidential campaign, as the proposed reforms as well as remarks regarding this problem which generated much publicity. The estimated population of illegal immigrants in the United States is about 12 million (Davis 2018, N.P). Trump often referred to illegal immigrants as criminals even though several studies have proved that the immigrants tend to have a lower incarceration as well as lower crime rate when compared to the native Americans. During his campaign, President Trump provided a hallmark promise campaign to construct a wall on the American- Mexico border. Also, he has shown interest in supporting different limits on the legal migration also as well as guest worker visas such as granting visas, which President Trump Asserts that the level of immigration in the United States will reduce. His proposal in regards to H-1B visa was frequently changing throughout his campaign but in 2016 he was clear that he was opposing the H1B visa program. In the year 2015, President Trump during his campaign he had proposed a mass deportation of the immigrants who were not documented as part of his immigration policy.

In the year 2018, Trump’s administration was separating children from their parent or relatives who accompanied them, inclusive of individuals who were applying for asylum. The zero tolerance policy was established on 7th May 2018. The policy focused on limitation unauthorized crossing of the American border with Mexico, The policy was a coordination of the Justice Department as well as the Homeland Security Department. The federal used this policy to separate children from their families or any other adult immigrant who was accompanying them while crossing the border. The parents were imprisoned in federal jails as they awaited their hearing while the children were held in shelters under the aegis of the Health and Human service department.

The chief staff of the white house John F. Kelly explained the zero tolerance as a tough deterrent which would contribute greatly to discouraging arrivals. He continues to emphasize that laws and regulations will continue to be followed to the letter and if individuals do not want to be separated from their children and families, they should not bring them with them. An immigrant parent with a child is not provided with immunity (Bell 2015, N.P). The court documented that the main aim of the government was to separate the parent from the children with no mechanism or procedure for the child and parent to reunite.

The policy has been condemned by several American Entities such as the American College of Physician. American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American Psychiatric Association, the entities asserted that the separation of families contributed to causing irreparable harm to the immigrant children. Also, several religious groups, as well as figures, also came out opposing the policy. Also, about 40 senators of the Democratic party wrote a letter to the president requesting him to remove the policy because it was unethical, ineffective, and inhumane policy and it never prioritized approaches that aligned with the American humanitarian and American values. By June 2018 a national protest was conducted and it attracted many protesters from all 50 states of the United States.

What other authors say regarding the issue

After an outcry from the public as well as political pressure regarding the issue of zero tolerance and family separation, President Trump decided to halt the separation of children from their families while crossing the border. The president signed an executive order on 20th June 2018. Even though he had halted the separation activity he allowed the prosecution as well as detainment of illegal immigrants including asylum seekers as well as children. The control officials provided an announcement that immigrant families would not be imprisoned until there was sufficient space for detention was available but the immigrants who were traveling alone would still be detained. At the same time, the White House provided an assertion that it was not retreating from its “zero tolerance” policies. The military also agreed to offer additional space to detain about 20,000 immigrants for extended periods. These policies that the United States government was practicing were unlawful.

Following a personal research that was conducted by Jeffrey Davis who is quite familiar with the government patterns of exploiting fear in order to be to be able to justify rights violation, most governments always portray the victim as evil, as, a criminal or a threat and not worthy of the basic human dignity. For instance, the administration of the former president George W. Bush utilized the fear of terrorism to be able to justify the torture, kidnapping, as well as the inhumane treatment that was being provided to the detainees (Davis 2018, N.P). Courts all over the world tend to condemn the violation of human rights. Basically, the administration of President Trump is practicing something similar to the Bush’s administration with its policies of immigration. Recently President Trump defended the Zero tolerance policy through the provision of a claim that his opponents do not care about the crime and they want the illegal immigrants no matter how they are, to pour into as well as infest our country like the Mara Salvatrucha (MS- 13). The MS-13 was an international criminal related gang which ironically began in the Los Angeles and it spread in the entire American continent. Following these characterizations, the United States government provides a pretext which allows it to be able to defy the basic principle of the international law in the manner it treats its immigrants. The way the United States government treats its immigrant tends to raise several conflicts to the domestic laws. For instance detainment of children indefinitely violates the 1997 court settlement which requires that the immigrant children are released within 20 days. President trump on June 24th, 2018 called for an immediate deportation of all the unlawful, immigrants without a court review. This action also tends to violate the laws the due process clause in the American Constitution which offers that the government has no ability to deprive any individual of their liberty, life, or even property without the due process law.

Key Actors in the subject

The population of incarcerated individuals in the united states only is more than 3 million and the number tends to continue growing each year. The concept of zero tolerance was established in the year 1980 to be able to fight the war on drugs. The concept was to enable the government to be able to address the issue of drugs and crime in the United States. The ensuing increase in juvenile arrest due to violent crimes who believed to be associated with drugs in the 1980s resulted to a societal belief that the juveniles were dangerous as well as that the zero tolerance policies were essential (Rhodan 2018, N.P). With time the zero tolerance was extended to other areas that related to a wider range of behaviors. Most of which were less severe than engaging in drugs and crime. The issues included general disruption, minor infractions like smoking, as well as possession of drugs such as aspirin. Basically, the zero tolerance policies were misapplied to conducts that pose no threat the school safety. The key actors of the subject which are the zero tolerance policy is the government of the United States because it focuses on providing its citizens with a mentality that will push them to support a particular action. For instance, the issue on illegal immigration, the Trump ’s administration has labeled immigrants as criminals as well as the threat to the security of the United States and due to this, he violates the human rights of the immigrants without being questioned. The trump’s administration has developed strategies that will support the execution of the immigration policies.

Conclusion

Every organization needs to develop policies which will control or guide the immigration into the country. The policies are essential because they tend to aid a country on how to handle an issue that may violate the immigration policies such as illegal immigration. In the United States, the zero tolerance policy was established in order to limit drug usage in schools as well as to limit the rate of crime. In Trump’s Administration, the zero tolerance was established to ensure that illegal immigration was eradicated. The zero tolerance policy lead to family separation which attracted public attention due to the violation of human rights. The policy has not received any support from several Entities in the United States such as the American College of Physician. American Academy of Pediatrics as well as the American Psychiatric Association, the entities asserted that the separation of families contributed to causing irreparable harm to the immigrant children. The policy was regarded to inhumane, unethical, as well as ineffective and did not prioritize approaches which are aligned to the American humanitarian and American values. The zero tolerance policy was not was not correctly applied and it greatly contributed to the violation of the human right and the children rights. Even though the violation was being used as a way to instill fear of the immigrants separating children from their families was and is still unethical and an inhumane activity to fellow human beings. There are so many other approaches that Trump’s administration would have minimized illegal immigration into the United States territory other than the separation of families. Zero tolerance policy is mostly used in schools to enforce the needed regulations as well as bans against the undesirable conduct or the possession of particular items. The hypothetical approach towards the zero tolerance policy as applied in Trump ’s administration is to ensure that there is a limitation of the illegal immigration into the United States territory. But the Trump’s administration went too far in the application of the policy to a point where they began to violate the rights of the immigrants even those who have legally entered the United States territory.

Bibliography

Bell, Charles. "The Hidden Side of Zero Tolerance Policies: The African American Perspective." NCBI, 2015: N.P.

Breslow, Jason M. "Locked Up In America: Christel’s Story." Frontline, 2015: N.P.

Davis, Jeffery. "US ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy still violating fundamental human rights laws." The Conversation, 2018: N.P.

Rhodan, Maya. "Here Are the Facts About President Trump's Family Separation Policy." Time, 2018: N.P.

author name? Zero-Tolerance. "Trump Administration’s "Zero-Tolerance" Immigration Policy." Human rights Watch , 2018: N.P.

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