Is America really "Land of the Free'?

Lethan
Révolutionnaire Team Révolutionnaire Team
Révolutionnaire Team

This past Friday, a federal judge in Texas ruled that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is illegal. That being said, new applicants cannot be accepted, inhibiting undocumented immigrant children from achieving stability within the United States. Although current permits are not cancelled, it is more than disheartening to know that many immigrant children have an uncertain fate within the United States. As a nation that claims to be the land of the free, why has much of our legislation and reform done more harm than help to marginalized and disenfranchised groups? How do you all feel about this?

4 REPLIES 4

NathanW
Visionary I

Interesting post @Lethan . America is overly glorified, I noticed that after I moved to the UK and realized that we as Americans have this unwavering pride and patriotism and think that everyone wants to live in the US where in reality a lot of countries look down on us. For many DACA immigrants, America is the only home they have ever known it is ridiculous to think that they are being forcibly removed and sent somewhere they have never been. America is certainly not the land of the free its a country built off of capitalism and superiority. 

KamilleJ
Révolutionnaire Team Révolutionnaire Team
Révolutionnaire Team

I agree with you @NathanW there's a strong feeling of superiority among many Americans who think that America is the best country. It is sad but mainly stems from ignorance so we can't really blame those people it's just about educating each other. 

Justice
Co-Founder
Co-Founder

Thanks for sharing @Lethan! The news of the latest DACA ruling is beyond heartbreaking and frustrating. It's especially challenging to think about how the lives of 600,000 DACA recipients have been entirely upended by this decision and its subsequent uncertainty. This notion of the land of the free and land of opportunity is hard to reconcile with the daily realities that so many groups in the US continue to face. Your question also made me think of @carlyfaulkner1's piece "Reforming Prison Labor" and how it represents a form of modern day slavery. Perhaps the US is a land of opportunity for some, but not most. Until then, there's a lot of work to be done to ensure that one day the US can live up to its ideals of liberty, equality and justice for all. 

Leah
Révolutionnaire Team Révolutionnaire Team
Révolutionnaire Team

This decision really hits close to home. In some ways it looks like this will be a push for Congress to actually pass some legislation that creates a path to citizenship for DREAMers and parents, but we've been burned so many times before it's hard to get my hopes up. It's great that renewals can still be processed, but there are so many folks who had applied and not made it through the background check yet, final steps, etc who are now at risk.