Opinion: ICE arrest of parent near my Encinitas school is just cruelty

Every day, from first through sixth grade, I biked to school at Park Dale Lane Elementary in Encinitas. I know the surrounding streets like the back of my hand. They’re the ones where I set up my lemonade stands, played sports after school and first learned to drive.

I instantly recognized those streets in a video posted Wednesday morning of a man being abducted by ICE on a designated safe route to drop his daughter off at my former elementary school. In the video, ICE officers refused community members’ pleas to show a judicial warrant for the man’s detainment. 

This isn’t the first time ICE has taken people from Encinitas. In July, they were spotted outside Home Depot, detaining at least two more men. 

These cases in my hometown sit among the larger backdrop of the cruelty of the Trump and Republican immigration agenda. While they campaigned on going after the “worst of the worst,” the reality is the majority of people abducted by ICE have had no criminal record of any kind.

As of June, 84% of all people arrested by ICE were assigned no threat level, according to a Los Angeles Times article. 

These raids, arrests and abductions are cruel for the very fact that they rip away hardworking people from their families, jobs and communities when they pose no threat to those around them. While under arrest, many are unable to talk to their families and inform them about their condition. 

These raids also led to the death of Jaime Alanis Garcia, who fell 30 feet in the chaos of a farm raid in July. 

Trump and Republicans claim they are doing this to make communities safer, but we know this isn’t true. Their actions have already torn apart families, destroyed livelihoods and taken one precious life. Their true agenda is to impose greater control on anybody who opposes them.

On a macro scale, too, this immigration crackdown is likely to hurt the economy. A 2016 Penn Wharton brief found immigration resulted in more innovation, better education and higher economic productivity. 

In fact, the brief explicitly points out that recent data suggests “immigration may actually have significant long-term benefits for the native-born, pushing them into higher-paying occupations and raising the overall pace of innovation and productivity growth.”

Not only is it cruel for ICE to remove people without criminal records from their jobs, families and communities, it is simply unproductive and costly to our economy.  

Now, remember, congressional Republicans recently approved a $75 billion funding increase for ICE. Suddenly, taxpayers are paying billions to drag down our economy and rip apart communities. 

This just isn’t right. And it further goes against everything I was taught about living the American Dream.

I was taught the American Dream meant anybody with our shared values of freedom and opportunity could work hard to build a successful life for those they cared about. It didn’t matter what religion you practiced, the color of your skin or where you grew up.
 
When I look at the world around me, especially at the video taken in my neighborhood streets, it’s hard to believe the American Dream is possible today. But that doesn’t mean things can’t change.

I applaud the community members standing up to ICE abductions. While it may seem futile, documenting the interactions and demanding to see a signed judicial warrant are key steps that allow us to stand up for our neighbors regardless of immigration status.
 
If you see ICE detaining somebody, I strongly encourage you to be a lawful nuisance. Do not put yourself in any danger, but take all reasonable action to hold ICE officers accountable. We cannot afford to stand on the sidelines.

I also call on Congress to pass the bipartisan Dignity Act. This bill would allow long-term and law-abiding undocumented immigrants to receive legal status for seven years. I am grateful that my representative, Mike Levin, has enthusiastically joined this coalition. 
 
Whatever happens next, we need action. The status quo of sitting by as our neighbors are abducted from the streets by masked agents without identification or warrants is unconscionable. Rights are being stripped before our eyes, and it cannot last.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. 

Landon Block is a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo majoring in political science. He is from Encinitas.