When immigrants and asylum seekers are portrayed as a dangerous threat, lied about and treated as less than human, it makes it easier to justify violence and civil and human rights abuses against them.
The vast majority of immigrants and asylum seekers are not criminals and are less likely to commit crimes than the U.S. born. We want a safe community, and we denounce any violence or crime committed by immigrants or anyone else.
If found guilty of a crime they should be held accountable to the full extent of the law. However, simply being undocumented in the United States is a civil violation, rather than a crime.
It is a federal civil immigration offense not worthy of the cruel and dehumanizing treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers.
Treating immigrants as less than human is wrong. They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect as human beings. Treating them any other way will never make America great.
Denying immigrants their constitutionally mandated rights won’t ever make America great.
Cruelty, lies and dehumanization of immigrants won’t ever make America great.
Citizens and non-citizens alike have constitutionally mandated rights. The United States Supreme Court recently reaffirmed this fact. Those rights must be adhered to and protected.
How we treat immigrants and the most vulnerable human beings clearly reflects on who we are as Americans.
Armando Cardenas, Cesar Sanchez, Rudy Valdez and Linda Zuba and members of the Support and Advocacy Committee of the Coalition of Latino Leaders.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Cruelty, lies and dehumanization of immigrants won’t make America great | Letters
Reporting by Armando Cardenas, Cesar Sanchez, Rudy Valdez and Linda Zuba / Rockford Register Star
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