‘There’s no due process. They don’t have a valid time that they’re going to expect to get out.’

Alexis Blozinski, 19, is a second-year social work major and counseling minor at UW-Milwaukee. She has become disillusioned with the federal government after the expansion of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. As a social work student, she takes issue with different aspects of their enforcement and lack of funding to social programs.

Levi Jelinski: In your words, could you explain what this administration is doing or has done with immigration control?

Alexis Blozinski: Our administration is enforcing it in a way that I don’t particularly agree with, and I see how funding is getting reallocated towards such industries as ICE. I think of the qualifications for the individuals that they are recruiting because they are technically a part of our judicial system now. They are officers, enforcers of law. Therefore, I would say that funds should be allocated less to their salaries, more to their training. I feel like the image broadcasted with the whole ICE and immigration thing.

Jelinski: Like general rhetoric?

Blozinski: I think that it is very, especially when you look into the media side, there’s very strong dynamics coming from both sides. And when [immigrants] get deported and go into the ICE holding institutions, they are missing a few of their civil rights. There’s no due process. They don’t have a valid time that they’re going to expect to get out. They don’t have valid individuals like translators. They don’t have access to their communities. I think about that stuff, and I’m like, my brother’s Mexican, my nephew’s Mexican. And I’m like, if he just got deported because he spoke Spanish to his dad.

Jelinski: Some would say that people that aren’t citizens of the United States, why should they be extended the same rights as naturalized citizens?

Blozinski: I understand where that comes in, because you do need citizen status. However, one of the main forefronts of ICE is they’re like, “We’re getting rid of criminals.” That’s the biggest thing. They’re like, “We’re getting criminals out of America.” I have no statistics to back this, but I have looked more into it and most of the individuals that are incarcerated right now do not have any criminal background. They have no known activity in any of these supposed crimes. So, my first point is that we’re getting rid of criminals that aren’t criminals. Another point: I think this is a stressor to our economy. A lot of these individuals that might have a more rigid view of people involved with ICE, say that [immigrants] steal their jobs. They’re stealing da da da da. Very rigid, which obviously you’re going to have from both sides. However, I don’t think that’s a very factual statement, especially when you look at the wealth gap in America. You can see that individuals that are a part of specific marginalized groups are actively in the lowest income bracket. They are working the jobs that no one else wants to work.  

Jelinski: Earlier, you mentioned that you took issue with their enforcement, like their raids. Could you just explain what you meant about problems you have with the enforcement?

Blozinski: I am a firm believer, but this is obviously my personal opinion, that they are going against individual civil [rights]. They are violating [rights] such as needing a warrant to go into an individual’s private property with [probable cause]. When you interview ICE agents like, “Okay, but who do you ask?” Who are you asking? And they’re like, “Oh, people that are a little darker, people that are better at speaking Spanish.” And that is an issue because then you’re targeting people. That’s not everybody getting this treatment. Now we have implicit biases going, and now we’re targeting individuals. It makes nobody feel safe. It feels like we are living in an authoritarian, almost dictatorship because you’re not safe in your own home. You’re not safe going to school. That’s insane.

Jelinski: Do you have any ideas for more effective immigration control policies?

Blozinski: I would say that, at least in my view, there are more urgent issues we should be taking care of than immigration. We should not be worrying about people that are coming into our country, and we can’t even worry about the people in it. I think that we should be reallocating these funds into way better places. There’s no reason that Medicaid got cut when we already know that millions, not thousands, not hundreds, millions of Americans need it. And this is healthcare. I’m not going to say we can just completely get rid of it because that would be idealistic and implausible. However, I feel like we should not focus so much on it. I advocate for more macro issues for the general population rather than focusing on the other side.