Well, the issue of immigration is more complicated than it looks take the concept of mass deportations. It seems everyone has an opinion on that subject. Too bad, most of them are wildly uninformed. President Elect Donald Trump insists that he’s going to keep his promises, including his outrageous and unworkable pledge to quote launch the largest deportation program in US history. Speaking of ignorance, there’s a whole truckload of it in just that one quote I get that Trump is mainly pandering to the crowd that wants to make America white again when he threatens to get rid of all the brown folks. But trying to reverse demographics through deportations is a tricky business, and what Trump has in mind is easier said than done. I ought to know. I’ve been writing about immigration for 35 years, guided by nuance, honesty and common sense. I still haven’t figured it all out, given the twists and turns that are baked into this issue,

I still see shades of gray. Blame it all on my roots. Both my parents were born in the United States. Three of my grandparents were born in the United States, in Texas, and the fourth came from Mexico to the United States as a boy with his family around 1915 during the Mexican Revolution,

their whole family came legally. I know this for a fact, because except for the Chinese who were barred from entry by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 no one could come illegally until after the immigration act of 1924

Meanwhile, my father is a retired law enforcement officer who spent 37 years on the job, whether on the US Mexico border or on The steps of the US Capitol. I don’t take lawlessness lightly. I don’t make excuses for it. I’m about accountability, just like the Republicans used to be before the January 6 riots turned them inside out. I want to lock up scofflaws and throw away the key. That includes foreign nationals who commit crimes on US soil and who should serve out their prison time here on US soil. I’m not interested in deporting them back to their home country where they can roam free and wreck habit and maybe even come back across the border.

I bet most Americans who reflexively call for mass deportations never think about that. Here are three more things they probably never think about. One, the price immigration and customs enforcement says each removal costs $10,000

per deportation, and the nativist insists that there are 20 million illegal immigrants in this country. Do the math the price tag to deport them all, $200 billion we don’t have it.

Two, the violation of civil rights. It is guaranteed that in any sweep, the civil rights of us Latinos will be violated, especially if Trump uses local cops as his henchmen, thereby destroying public trust in local law enforcement for 50 years, which will, of course, increase crime rates. And

number three, the futility. It’s adorable that so many Americans think that migrants was removed won’t come back to reunite with their family and their friends, paying smugglers even higher prices to bring them across, thereby making the bad guys even stronger. Good plan. I get it really. I do. A lot of Americans are sick and tired of what they consider an invasion by a bunch of uninvited house guests. Now I’d argue that these folks were, in fact, invited, that there is no invasion, and that the invitation took the form of a giant help wanted sign along the US Mexico border. You see us employers keep hiring these people anyway. Suffice to say, there are lots of ways to get rid of house guests. You could, for instance, burn your house to the ground. Problem solved. That’ll teach them. My fellow Americans, please calm down, come to your senses and step away from the matches and.