Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion of Arizona Senate Bill 1070. There’s another case that, while covered nationally, hasn’t gotten the same amount of attention, except locally here in the Atlanta Metro.
Her name is Jessica Colotl. She’s a rising senior at Kennesaw State University with good grades. She’s also in the United States without proper documentation: an illegal immigrant.
There has been a lot of back-and-forth and argument on both side, and it has been growing shriller by the moment. Jessica herself hopes to obtain permanent residency.1
In all the arguments, though, I’ve seen only passing reference to one fact that seems to be pivotal: Jessica was a minor when her parents brought her to the United States. She didn’t make the choice to cross the border without proper authorization. They did.
In the United States, nobody would argue if parents took their minor children with them when they emigrated. Parents are allowed to make such decisions on behalf of their children. In fact, they’re expected to be the decision-makers.
It’s reasonable to apply that moral value in the reverse direction, and it’s reasonable to think that Jessica’s parents were acting appropriately when they decided to bring her with them and continue raising her themselves. Most parents would have.
Some would argue that this means Jessica should have moved back to Mexico when she turned 18. Why? She grew up here and this is her home. That’d be akin to expecting me to move back to the Midwest just because I was born there. I grew up in the South and it’s my home.
I don’t have a problem with deporting illegal immigrants who entered as adults and who are later convicted of a crime or who otherwise don’t contribute to society.2 But I don’t see why Jessica Colotl should be penalized for a decision that her parents made for her.
- Illegal immigrant KSU student hopes to stay in U.S. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- I do disagree with deporting illegal immigrants who don’t commit crimes and contribute to society. But that’s a separate topic.