College protests putting cart before the horse

There are seven stages of grief:

• Shock and denial
• Pain and guilt
• Anger and bargaining
• Depression, reflection, and loneliness
• The upward turn
• Reconstruction and working through
• Acceptance and hope

It would be so great in the aftermath of the presidential election if we could just go right to hope. I'm not sure how much time it takes to get there, but we better move fast.

I'm also not sure where "protest" fits into these stages, but at least 80 colleges and universities across the country are planning walkouts or protests to demand the protection and respect for unauthorized immigrant students. I'm guessing "unauthorized" is yet another word for "illegal." New Jersey colleges whose students plan to join them include Rutgers, Seton Hall, Princeton, William Paterson, Bloomfield College, St. Peter's University and Bergen County Community College. Rutgers students have circulated a petition to make their school a "sanctuary campus." 

Rutgers has pledged to do everything in its legal power to keep the students safe. Isn't that what they are supposed to be doing?  Ever since the presidential election, there's been this fear that Trump troops were going to come on campus in the night and throw people into the back of a truck and take them to the old country. It's not going to happen.

Since winning the election, Trump has softened his stance to people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members and drug dealers. If these people were found on college campuses, wouldn't you want them deported?

I think these protests are putting the cart before the horse. If there's ever an actual case where an unauthorized immigrant is being deported, that will be a major story followed by protests. Meanwhile the powers that be know how you feel and the stance softening is an example of that. Hopefully as the election gets farther and farther into the rear view mirror, we can put all of this behind us and get to that last stage of grief: acceptance and hope.

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