"You're grounded." The two words no teenager wants to hear. For once these words are spoken, a list of restrictions are placed on the teenage offender—a direct price for their misbehavior. Thankfully, as a child I wasn't grounded much (my desire to avoid a lecture ensured that). However, friends of mine would loudly complain whenever their phones or other privileges were taken away as a result of being grounded.
My friends' reaction to having some of their freedom revoked is expected. As humans, we don't like it when our freedom is restricted or even revoked because it interferes with the right to make our own decisions. In April 2018, President Trump instituted a zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration. This policy separated the families of illegal immigrants and took away their right to stay together.
On July 31, 2018, Congress had a hearing to discuss the zero tolerance policy. A majority of Republicans and Democrats agreed that the zero tolerance policy will never be instituted again. They also agreed that new laws need to be enacted to fix our immigration system. The question now remains: what laws will be most effective at fixing our broken system?
The best solution appears to be the reinstatement of a program that allowed for illegal immigrants to stay with their families until their court date. It is called the Family Case Management System.
Under the Family Case Management System, illegal immigrants would be required to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in a similar way that convicted felons would check in with their parole officer. To ensure that the appointments would be kept and the illegal immigrants wouldn't run, tracking anklets were placed on the illegal immigrants. The program had a 99% success rate.
President Trump ended this program in 2017, with the claim that it was too expensive. Curious to see if the President was correct, I decided to dig a little deeper. After examining the 2018 budget for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the cost of the Family Case Management System, I determined that detaining illegal immigrants costs more than the program.
Below is a chart of my findings.
Source: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ICE%20FY18%20Budget.pdf
The total cost of detaining illegal immigrants is around $5 billion. Adjusted for inflation, the cost of the Family Case Management System is around $77 million. This means that the Family Case Management System is around $4.8 billion dollars cheaper than traditional detention centers.
What does this mean for the average American? More money taken out of your pocket in the form of taxes. It also means that in order to have the money to pay for the pricier detention centers, the U.S. will need to borrow more money from other countries. As of August 1, 2018, the debt in the United States is over $21 trillion and is rising with every second.
As Americans, we have the power to change this. This November is known as the midterm election season. It is a time where Americans can vote on who represents us in the House of Representatives and the Senate. These are the people who will impact your lives more directly than the President. These are the people who can make sure your voice is heard. Have your voice heard this election season and vote.
