A miscarriage of justice? Only at first glance
I support law enforcement, such as ICE, but I have criticized the agency when it does not play by the rules, such as respecting due process.
On first blush, the story on Page One of the Inquirer seemed like a grave micarriage of justice at its worst, or cruelty at its least.
In summary, immigrant Rian Andrianzah, 46, was arrested while reporting to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration office for a routine biometrics appointment. He was being detained and faces deportation.
Reporting from across the country makes it clear the Trump Administration is carrying out extraordinary policies that are, as I have mentioned before, turning the majority of Americans against mass deportations, which they previously had favored.
If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know my mantra is “obey the law.” We’d have a much happier and safer country if everyone did that. There’s a plain-language parallel, “play by the rules.”
Both apply to citizens, noncitizens, and the government, such as ICE.
I support law enforcement, such as ICE, but I have criticized the agency when it does not play by the rules, such as respecting due process.
Each year, tens of thousands of people with unsettled immigration status are required to report to ICE or related immigration agencies. Some have to check in weekly, some monthly, some annually, so authorities can keep tabs on them as they fight for legal status.
Snatching them when they report for a hearing — as they are playing by the rules — seems harsh, like really bad policy. It seems like the government’s aim is to scare them away from the meeting so that they can be arrested for skipping the hearing.
That is bad faith, and bad policy.
But, that is not the full story of how Andrianzah, who is Indonesian, got caught in the web, which has angered the local Indonesian community. Here’s the back story.
He entered the country legally in 2000, on a visa, which he overstayed, which is against the law. He married Siti Rahayu and has two U.S.-born children.
He was placed, according to the Inquirer, in removal proceedings in 2003, and a judge issued a final order of deportation in 2006, which wasn’t so final after all, as he appealed. That was denied two years later. He had due process up the wazoo.
According to the Inquirer, “The removal order was never enforced, as had been common for what the government then saw as low-priority immigration violations.”
But it was no longer an immigration violation — Andrianzah was now thumbing his nose at a court order. He was ordered to leave, but didn’t.
Just so you know, being here illegally qualifies you for removal, and being here after you have received due process really qualifies you for removal.
The only thing ICE did wrong was arresting him at the immigration office.
Would it have been better at home, or work? What the Open Borders types call “kidnapping.”
I can’t say, other than he has had more than two decades here to which he was not entitled. There was no miscarriage of justice, just a failure by the government to execute a court order.
