I have family in the part of Mississippi where ICE agents arrested hundreds of people working in chicken plants last week.
Over the years, I've spent a lot of time in little towns like Morton, where one of the big chicken plants is.
It was horrifying to see photos of children taken away from their parents, left to fend for themselves in those towns.
Since those raids, I've heard a lot of talk about how bad their parents are because they came to our country and did that work. Some politicians talk about them as if they are dangerous criminals and try to blame any number of problems on them. They act like it's a big victory that we disrupted the lives of more than 600 families.
In fact, the immigrants who are coming to Morton and other towns in Mississippi are bringing new energy into towns that had been fading away. Working in a chicken plant is hard, hard work. It lifts up the whole community to have new people move in, pay taxes, raise families, and breath new life into schools and businesses.
They work, they go home to their families, and they contribute to the entire community.
Going after these families isn't going to make these towns better. It's going to hold them back. Our country needs moms and dads who want to work hard and lift up their families, no matter what color we are or where we come from.
