American Diaspora: The Deportation of Lawful Residents from the United States and the Destruction of Their Families

Introduction

For all the passion of recent immigration debate, with its rhetoric of border security and cries for legalization, nary a word has been spoken of our policy of deporting lawful permanent residents–our family members, neighbors, co-workers, and friends living lawfully in the United States-simply because they crossed paths, as is true for tens of millions of U.S. citizens, even minimally with the criminal justice system.