An Alternative To Deporting Immigrants

In an article in the October 31st issue of USA Today, it was reported that according to the American Immigration Council, Donald Trump’s deportation plan could take 10 years and cost nearly a trillion dollars. The article also noted that corporations with federal contracts for security, transportation, detention and deportations – worth millions or billions of dollars – would likely reap the largest rewards in an expansion of immigration enforcement.

Instead of spending trillion of dollars deporting immigrants, ?why not invest it in our future.? Instead of constructing “detention” centers, ?why not? construct? campuses where the immigrants seeking asylum in this country could live and receive vocational-technical training.??? ?Rather than defunding? Job Corp, the federal government could expand its training program beyond helping young people ages 16-24 to helping immigrants of any age improve?the?quality?of?their lives by empowering them to get great jobs and become independent, productive, tax-paying citizens.

In addition to their vocational technical training, they would? receive education? in speaking, reading and writing? English, in U.S. history and government so that they could pass the U.S. naturalization test. Immigrants seeking asylum would contract with the federal government to enter and complete the program with the understanding that they would face deportation if they were to leave the program.

In stead of spending a trillion dollars, we could be investing a trillion dollars – an investment that would be returned many times over.