Some dreams shackled

Illegal immigrants to the US can expect no mercy these days, especially after the Trump Administration tightened the rules and their interpretation. Yet the news about 52 Indian men being held in a federal detention centre in Oregon, USA, is distressing because of the conditions they and other detainees are being held under. Prolonged detention in cells, being shackled etc, all contribute to a dehumanising atmosphere which is not warranted. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is tasked with managing the issue, but it has courted many a controversy, including, in other cases, the separation of children from their parents.

Given the generally hostile atmosphere in the US; it is surprising that the lure of the “land of the free” is still a draw. However, the US keeps a chink open in the form for asylum seekers. A few who get asylum, often after a long wait, give hope to many who languish in jails waiting for the disposal of their cases. Punjab has for too long paid the price for a better life abroad—be it in the form of NRI brides married to dodgy husbands or young men paying ‘travel agents’ through their teeth to get to their eventual destination. Broken homes, battered bodies and sometimes coffins are too high a price to pay for such desperate adventures turning sour. Lack of opportunities and inadequate training and education play havoc with the future of the younger generations, till they feel that only by going abroad would they be able to make a life for themselves.

State governments must improve the nature of basic educational structure so as to provide vocational training which can be useful for students, both home and abroad. They can help by institutionalising emigration and providing adequate training and certification for young persons who want to go to countries that have a need for certain type of skilled or semi-skilled workers. As for the detainees in Oregon, they need counsellor access and help. Till their cases are decided by US immigration courts, American federal authorities must ensure that their living conditions improve, and they are able to communicate with their families.