To the Editor: Let’s Legalize Immigrants in Princeton, Not Push Them Underground

Princeton, NJ – Editor’s note: The July 10 raid by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seeking to arrest certain immigrants believed to be living in Princeton set off a wave of reactions in town. Mayor Mark Freda and other officials reassured the immigrant residents that Princeton remains a welcoming community and will not target individuals because of their ethnic origin.

TAPinto Princeton’s coverage of that event , and most other media covering the activities, used the phrase “undocumented immigrants” to describe the individuals being sought by the ICE agents. But, argues one Princeton resident with a longstanding interest in Princeton’s immigrant community, the word “undocumented” deserves further scrutiny.

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To the Editor :

The term undocumented immigrant conveys an inaccurate and largely pejorative and derogatory condition, attributed to working class residents of Latin American origin who are presumed to lack formal authorization to reside in the United States.

There is a general perception that most of these workers and their families are subject to unceremonious deportation, that they can be arrested on sight, without a warrant, and that they have no protection under our civil rights laws.  This became abundantly clear during the recent “visit” to Princeton of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posse of agents in several unmarked vehicles dangerously driving around town for hours looking for “egregious noncitizen criminals” using “targeted intelligence”

The immigration status of Latino residents of Princeton is on a spectrum that goes from citizen and permanent resident through a long list of temporary conditions that do not convey permanent status but carry some kind of official documentation -- such as asylum applicant, parolee, and those with a whole host of humanitarian visas, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.

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Qualifying these immigrants as “undocumented” is factually incorrect but, most importantly, totally unnecessary.  Most of them have led productive, law-abiding lives in this country for decades, have formed families, contribute billions of dollars through Social Security and Medicare deductions, sales and income taxes, and are patiently waiting, with millions of others, to become permanent residents and, eventually, citizens. They are, simply, immigrants, who have come to America to exercise their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of which they have been deprived in their country of origin.

The July 10 ICE operation in Princeton, like other misguided enforcement tactics, if unchallenged, poses a danger to the civil rights of all foreign-born (almost one in three) Princeton residents. But everyone else would be at risk of being accosted on the street by armed agents asking us to show documentation of who we are because we may look like a noncitizen or speak a language other than English. Ironically, indiscriminate enforcement such as we saw in Princeton poses a risk to our national security by allowing racial profiling to distract from targeting those who are a real threat but may look and act like citizens or are in fact citizens, like the gunman in the Butler, Pennsylvania, Fairgrounds.

I am reassured by Congresswoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman's swift demand for full accountability from the Newark Field Office of ICE and encouraged by Princeton municipal authorities seeking complete transparency as to what happened, and why, and implementing policies to prevent any repetition.

I urge the Princeton community to respond to this incident by forcefully advocating in favor of allocating more resources to legalize immigrants versus terrorizing and pushing them underground.

Maria Juega

Grover Avenue

Juega, co-founder of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF), until recently served on the Affordable Housing Board

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