The policy expert said that it's important to determine who “is the most urgent priority and get those who are a threat to us out of the country first and not put a high priority on those who are not a threat and are actually contributing to the country.”
Although most immigration advocates are praising the administration's new policy, some still take issue with the government's secure communities program.
“It's a program that was begun under the Bush administration and expanded in the Obama administration, which allows for finger print information to be shared between the justice departments and the Department of Homeland Security,” Appleby explained.
He gave the example of an immigrant who is taken in because she had a traffic violation or some other minor offense. This person is required to have copies of her fingerprints taken and sent to the Homeland Security department. She will also have her file flagged for not being a legal resident and could face immediate deportation.
“The goals of the program we would agree with and that is to target criminal aliens, those who have committed serious offenses,” Appleby said.
However, in reality, “the results have been much different – the majority of those who have been deported under this program have either no offense or a low level offense.”
“Again, the government has the right to pursue this,” he underscored. “Our only concern is that it's really not targeting criminal aliens – it's targeting the people that the bishops think should be legalized or put on a path to citizenship.”
Appleby said that the result of the program can often be “adverse” since it lowers the trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities and also has the effect of separating parents from their U.S. citizen children.
In response, he added, the U.S. bishops “have said, 'let's look at this program again and see if there are some changes that need to be made to help the program meet the goals that have been stated for it.'”
Marianne is a journalist with a background in writing and Catholic theology. When not elaborating on the cinematic arts, she enjoys spending time with people, reading thick books and traveling anywhere and everywhere.