Why Are We Treating Immigrants Like Criminals?

In the past few weeks a lot of attention has been drawn to the issue of immigrant detention camps. Despite what you may or may not know about detention camps, we can all agree that it's an inhumane measure. The biggest offense is that most of the people they're detaining are women and children. The purpose of these camps are basically to ensure that suspected illegal immigrants show up to their court hearings that would ultimately decide whether they are allowed to stay or require deportation. You might think -so these people are being held be the government for an indiscernible amount of time? That's horrible! It gets worse.

These "camps" are very shabbily set up and immigrants are treated like prisoners. They're held in cells and these conditions are cruel at best. These people have done nothing wrong. Their only offense is that they came to this country in search for something- usually to improve their lives and their children's lives. The issue isn't "should we take a better look at immigration detention ceneters?" The issue is "Why are we treating innocent people like criminals?" Some articles I've read on the subject have talked about how Immigration officials are suggesting working on improving the condition of these detention facilities and making sure that every case is reviewed in at least 90 days. Truly, how is this going to make anything better? Throwing families into cells and putting children through the trauma that these detention facilities will inevitably cause is inexcusable. Yes, there are Americans (mostly middle and upper class white people) who are concerned by the growing number of immigrants in the U.S., and while I understand that our government has to respond to these criticisms, we have no right to treat fellow, innocent human beings like common criminals. The thing that bothers me the most is that we all know who's being held in these centers- it's not the millionaire illegal British family, it's the hard working family from Mexico who came here in search of a better life. If we continue with this system, we won't have to worry about anyone ever wanting to move here. Problem solved, right?