ICE crackdown forcing some families to self deport

[StLucieBengal]

http://www.dailywire.com/news/18413/ice-crackdown-scaring-some-families-self-deport-joseph-curl

Everyone made fun of Romney when he mentioned this would happen by just enforcing the current laws. I am no Romney supporter but he was right in this instance. Deserves his due.

Quote:ICE Crackdown Scaring Some Families To 'Self-Deport' Back To Mexico

July 10, 2017

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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was derided for his contention that illegal aliens would "self-deport" if the federal government cracked down on companies that hire them, expressly against the law. If they can't find work, they'll leave, Romney said.

To critics, that was laughable. In fact, in a 2012 debate, the audience actually laughed when Romney said the words.

But, guess what? It works. Sort of.

President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government to crack down on illegal aliens, and agents of the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency have been doing what they're supposed to do — enforce the law.

That has prompted some families to leave the U.S. and return to Mexico, reports The Pueblo Chieftain.

The paper says a February memorandum ordered ICE agents "to detain any undocumented person they encountered — not just those with a criminal history or those in jails, the previous policy."

That ramped-up enforcement has reportedly led to 14 people in the Pueblo area being arrested by ICE agents this year.

One of those people — 49-year-old Benito Rubio — died in a Denver hospital from undetermined causes while in federal custody after being arrested Feb. 28 in Pueblo.

Sources report that some undocumented families have left the area for Mexico rather than run the risk of having a parent arrested or even sentenced to prison for immigration violations.

Rubio, for example, was facing felony charges from repeat immigration violations and was likely to be sentenced to prison before being deported, according to his family.

The danger of arrest is also being felt in the number of longtime local people who offer to pick fruits and vegetables in Southern Colorado.

Michael Hirakata, whose family has grown cantaloupe, watermelon and pumpkins in the Rocky Ford area since 1927, said he has applied for 60 federal H2A worker visas this year. The documents allow workers to stay here from July to October and work on Hirakata's farm.

"Fewer and fewer local people have been taking part in the (farm) labor pool anymore," Hirakata said Friday.

Federal law makes it a crime for an employer to hire an undocumented worker. But the law has been hardly enforced for years, allowing companies to hire illegal aliens without any consequence.

Still, if illegal aliens know that they might — just might — be picked up and deported, that may change the equation enough to spur them to go home.

So far, it seems to be working.