I have so
much to say. This may take several blogs
to finish. Then we’ll move on. Or not.
The penalty,
in Minnesota, for first violation of an Order for Protection (OFP) may be
treated as a misdemeanor and may be supported by a bond. At least this is the fact for a citizen of
the United States. The penalty for the
very same violation by a permanent resident or registered Alien is deportation
with no appeal. Yes, Permanent Residents
are still Aliens, at least for ten years.
In 1996, the
United States of America passed a major overhaul to the existing immigration
law. Below are a few of the changes that
were signed into law by then-president Bill Clinton.
1) If an immigrant fails to report a
change of address to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services with ten
days, he or she can be deported.
2) If an Alien purposely becomes a
public charge (welfare recipient) within five years of entry into the United
States.
3) The Attorney General has the right to
build a wall between the United States and Mexico. See? The
law already exists.
4) An Alien can be held for two years
without release before being brought before an immigration board. Then the ‘alien’ has to pay for his own legal
representation. He is not provided an
attorney. No bail needs to be assessed. There is no provision for the assumption of
innocence. Get caught, we get to dump
your ass in jail and then we ship you back to your country of origin.
5) The commission of a crime of Domestic
Abuse is cause for deportation.
We posted my
employee’s bail on October 24, fifteen days after he was detained by ICE. The day before that, he appeared before a
judge who said that he was lucky that so many people from his Church, his
employer and his children’s school had written letters on his behalf because
his case was shaky.
He was
detained because he violated an Order for Protection and pled guilty. His crime was to show up at his estranged
wife’s house, by her invitation, with flowers.
She called the police. This
violation constitutes an act of Domestic Violence as defined by the 1996
immigration laws. At his trial, he was
asked just one time (I have the transcript) if he realized that pleading guilty
(which he did on advice of a public defender) might result in deportation. There was no discussion and his attorney
urged him to take the plea.
The 1996
immigration laws are being enforced. He
was held for deportation. Regardless of
the intent of his violation of the Order for Protection and regardless of the
way that the judge treated his guilty plea, which was to make it a misdemeanor
violation with two days of community service as his penalty, he committed an
act of Domestic Violence under Federal Immigration law. The laws are not fair, nor were they written
with fairness in mind. Immigrants are
Aliens, although I have never seen antennae on a single one.
Immigrants have dignity. We are afraid of Aliens.
The
Constitution of the United States starts with “We, the People of the United
States…” It does not discuss the origin
of the People nor does it discuss the age, race or religion of those
people. The Constitution defines Voters,
Citizens and those who may become legislators.
The Constitution says nothing about excluding anyone within this
country’s borders. I have never seen the
version that says “We, the Citizens” or “We, the specially defined Interest
Group”.
When I
posted the bail, the employee at the federal building asked how I knew
him. I said that I was his
employer. She asked what he did for
me. I answered that he is an
embroiderer. She paused for a
moment. “Is he really worth $10,000 to
you?” she asked.
“Every one
of my employees is worth $10,000,” I replied.
Where we
used to have the scales of justice, we now have the railroad train of justice. Once you are caught in the system, the train
just starts moving along, in one single direction and it is nearly impossible
to stop.
My employee
has a court date next June. In the
meantime, we are doing what we can to change the course of events. He does not belong on this train. Unfortunately, is not unique or alone. There are so many people caught up in this
system because, while we define ‘Illegal Aliens’ so well in our minds, we
really don’t have a clue what that actually means.
Done for
now. There will be more. Do I sound angry? Yeah, maybe a bit.
