In a story that is becoming
increasingly commonplace, ICE agents deported the father of two young
American citizens to the West African nation of Gambia last week.
Buba Jabbi, 41, was married to Katrina Jabbi, also an American
citizen, who is pregnant with the couple's third child.
It's tempting to for many to say, “Good
riddance” to Mr. Jabbi, who entered the country legally in 1995,
but overstayed his tourist visa. However, a closer look reveals the
broken nature of current US immigration law.
Mr. Jabbi came to the US in 1995 to
attend the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and never left. Per USA
Today, Jabbi eventually wound up in Wisconsin working as a truck
driver. He met Katrina in 2009 and they married in 2013. They
currently have two daughters, Nalia, 5, and Aisha, 1.
Jabbi tried for years to become a legal
resident of the US. After filing the paperwork incorrectly, he was
subjected to removal proceedings, receiving a final order of removal
in 2010. His deportation was delayed for years because Gambia refused
to provide travel documents for his return. While he waited, he was
given orders of supervision and a work authorization. He was required
to report to ICE annually. It was on one of these visits that Jabbi
was detained last month and subsequently deported.
"We were confident that [Buba]
doesn't have a criminal record and that he's working, there is no
trouble with our family." Katrina told WAOW
News in Wisconsin. "We were confident we would be able to
sort this out in the next few years."
Jabbi was not accused of a crime.
“Overstaying a visa is not a criminal offense,” wrote Elizabeth
Kozycki, an immigration attorney, on Avvo.com.
The offense is a civil violation and a not a criminal one under
current US law.
Nevertheless, Nolo.com
points out that current US law does not provide exceptions for
illegal immigrants who are married to American citizens. Illegals who
have been in the US for more than a year or who have returned
illegally after being deported must wait 10 years after they last
left the US to apply for re-entry.
Does the penalty of deportation and
exile for at least a decade fit the civil offense of overstaying a
visa? It does not seem so.
Mr. Jabbi was not a criminal and had no
violent history. He was gainfully employed and providing for his wife
and daughters who are all US citizens. Mrs. Jabbi is employed
part-time. The odds are that she will now need government assistance
to provide for her children in the absence of their father.
In deporting Mr. Jabbi, the federal
government not only incurred thousands of dollars of legal costs, it
deprived the economy of a willing worker who was contributing to the
good of the nation as well as his family. Mr. Jabbi's absence will
likely add four people who had been part of a self-sustaining family
to the entitlement rolls.
The lack of a father figure also leads
to bad
outcomes for children. Children of absent fathers often make poor
life choices that lead to substance abuse and becoming single parents
themselves. This perpetuates the cycle of entitlements and adds to
growing national debt.
Those who say that immigrants should
just “follow the law” and “get in line” fail to understand
that the current law is unworkable. Even before the Trump
Administration reduced the number of legal visas, wait times for
legal immigrants could take decades. The State
Department visa bulletin notes that an unmarried Mexican child of
a US permanent resident would have to wait 21 years merely to file an
application for an immigrant visa. For people who came to the US
illegally, there is no clear path to legalization unless they fall
within the exceptions granted by the DACA program. The future of DACA
is currently in doubt as well.
While the federal government has the
right and duty to control its borders and set immigration standards,
it is not justice to require illegal immigrants, especially those who
have American families, to do the impossible. The United States
clearly has a national interest in deporting violent criminals such
as members of MS-13, but what is the interest in deporting
law-abiding, peaceful family men like Mr. Jabbi?
Jabbi's case is similar to that of
Jorge
Garcia, the married father of two from Detroit who was deported
to Mexico, a country he had not seen in 30 years, in January. Garcia
was brought to the US as a 10-year-old, but was too old to qualify
for DACA. Garcia, who was employed as a landscaper, had no criminal
record. Garcia had been working toward legal status since 2005 and
had spent about $125,000 in the process.
Allowing immigrants like Mr. Jabbi to
stay with their families would not require an amnesty or pardon for
their immigration sins. It would require immigration reform. Reform
bills proposed in the past would require illegals to undergo
background checks and pay fines and back taxes as restitution for
illegally entering the US.
Deportation is not the only way of
making right the wrong of illegal immigration. In the case of people
like Buba Jabbi, deportation is not the best course for the
immigrant, their family or the United States. If conservatives can
forgive President Trump for his numerous indiscretions, it seems
appropriate to offer some small measure of grace to immigrants who
only want to peacefully support their families in the land of
opportunity. Hardworking, family-oriented people are the sort of
citizens – or residents – that America should welcome.
Originally published on The
Resurgent
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