Petition to Deport Bieber Sparks Debate in the US

The petition against the Canadian singer is rekindling the controversy that suggests the law in the United States is not equal for all immigrants.

To deport or not to deport Justin Bieber? This is the dilemma presented by those who believe that the law is not equal for all immigrants in the United States when dealing with an offender who is not a citizen and who, despite that, receives different treatment from the law because of his skin color, fame or wealth.

After the arrest and subsequent release of the Canadian singer, who was caught unaware while drag racing under the influence of alcohol in the state of Florida, a group of some of the artist’s defamers has started a campaign from the page We the People to demand his deportation from the United States.

The singer “is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nation’s youth. We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our society,” says the letter, which has managed to gather more than 40,000 signatures.

The content of a letter that exudes a gratuitous hostility toward the singer and his “abominable” music is not easily described as impartial and objective. And yet, it has scaled the wall of virtual petitions that the White House has set up in the spirit of listening to the grievances of its citizens.

For the Obama administration to respond to a letter, the letter needs to have at least 100,000 signatures. The response from the government is not always in the same vein as that of the petitioners, but their case is joining the ranks of those entitled to a review.

Although Bieber’s deportation is a very remote possibility, given that he holds an O-1 visa, only granted to those with “an extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics,” his case has served to illustrate the sad preferential treatment permitted by an immigration system that today is sinking like a boat with holes.

In just the first four years of the Obama administration, the U.S. has deported more than 2 million undocumented individuals. Many of them had no criminal history. Some of them were fathers, mothers or children who left a broken family behind them.

Some commentators have taken advantage of Bieber’s case to express their regret over the unfortunate double standard of an immigration system that criminalizes some while pampering others. For many, the question of whether or not the Florida police would have behaved the same way had the detainee been poor and Hispanic is not only legitimate, but also pertinent if there is to be any relief from the hypocrisy of a justice that is not always blind to those who are not U.S. citizens.

“Given the climate of hostility toward immigrants in many parts of the country, and the Obama administration’s love affair with deportation, you’d expect him to be sitting in a holding cell awaiting a one-way trip out of the country,” writes Andrew Rosenthal on the pages of The New York Times.

“I’m not saying that Mr. Bieber should lose the visa he was granted,” he continues. “It’s just worth pointing out … the capricious, unbalanced and racially charged way in which immigration policy is conceived and enforced in this country.”

Bieber’s case has also called the attention of media watchdog groups. For organizations like Media Matters, the Canadian singer should not become the victim of a phony debate, in that his case should not be considered exemplary or paradigmatic in the protest for immigration reform.

Justin Bieber “has little in common with the typical deportee and should not be used as an example for reforming the immigration system,” says the organization.