Suicide is illegal in most states.  Since the presidential election, however, it is claimed that there has been a 250% increase in calls to suicide prevention hotlines, largely fed by fears of illegal aliens about being deported by Donald Trump.

If you believe this new height of hysteria, here is propaganda to fill your minds:

... Illinois has witnessed a dramatic 200 percent surge in calls to mental-health hotlines. The nationwide figure is even higher, showing a 250 percent increase[.] ... Many of those calling in to crisis hotlines are those vulnerable groups who fear that life for them under a Trump administration could get even uglier.

Trump recently reiterated his vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Immigrant and refugee students fearing deportation (or their family's deportation) have been extremely fearful, angry, depressed and in some cases have failed to show up to school altogether in the wake of Trump's win[.] ... Trump's platform has caused "significant distress and anxiety... This is clearly a public health crisis."

CBS adds:

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker looks at some of the faces behind the numbers.

"This fear of being deported. I've never felt that before," says Hector Lopez.

There were heartbreaking calls from students like Luis Gomez.

"I've been trying to reconcile the reality and the possibility that my dad will lose his job, that my family will lose their home and that I might lose my friends and family to deportation and suicide," he says.

Gomez and others shared their stories at a news conference where health officials promoted mental health resources.

Questions for discussion:

1) Isn't suicide a form of self-deportation?

2) Given the apparent magnitude of the crisis, should suicide prevention hotline recorded messages start speaking in Spanish from the get-go rather than having callers wait until the end of the English part of the message?  It might be too late by then.

3) If the Immigration and Naturalization Service manned Spanish-language suicide prevention hotlines, do you think they could trace the calls and save a lot of lives?

4) If you had the choice of living in Mexico or taking your own life, which would you choose?  Would your answer be different if it were a slum in Mexico, a rich neighborhood with many guards, or a drug plantation?

5) If you think I'm making light of a serious subject, could I reclaim the moral high ground by saying I think this is more whipped up hysteria, and that there is no evidence that a single person has ended his life because of Donald Trump?

Ed Straker is the senior writer at NewsMachete.com.