Compassion, not deportation, of undocumented parents

On the Nov. 16 front page is an article by Amaris Castillo describing the fears of parents of undocumented children in Manatee County. The intent of the article is to elicit empathy and/or sympathy for the parents of these children. This article angered me in the first few paragraphs and I was only able to scan the remainder of the article.

First of all, the people who came into this country illegally, educated or not, were well aware of the consequences. Laws are laws. I believe President-elect Trump will not deport law-abiding, undocumented parents of children born in this country.

I’m hoping that a humane directive to INS is implemented and that law-abiding, undocumented parents of children born in the U.S. are allowed to continue to live here while they seek legal status. To deport this group of people is unrealistic, expensive and inhumane.

Trump’s “60 Minutes” interview on Nov. 14 alluded to his administration taking a humane approach toward those who entered illegally but have not broken laws while living in the U.S. Let’s hope the Trump administration enacts a compassionate resolution to a problem which has plagued this country for decades.

This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Compassion, not deportation, of undocumented parents."