Molly Ricketts

This episode, S2 E2, had a lot of varied feedback. At first, I was angry reading posts that disagreed with my opinion. However, I made this stupid NYE resolution to read articles and listen to the points of view that irritated me most. While this has been incredibly frustrating, it has also been enlightening. Crazy, even with a law degree, it appears I do not know all. However, I do believe the following holds true, regardless of your economic, social, or political background: First, the law is not concrete. What is and is not law is created and defined by our 3 branches of government: the Legislative creates, the Judiciary interprets, and the Executive enforces, but also maneuvers and redefines, the law as necessary for national security. Second, the law(s) are incredibly vague and complex—which is why we have lawyers to argue and the judiciary to interpret such laws in hopes of achieving justice. Unfortunately, immigration law is more vague and complex than your average bear, with significantly less oversight. This, in large part, is due to the fact that this issue has not negatively impacted enough people of minor import or one or two of those of significant import to ensure that our law adheres to American principles of liberty and human dignity, Third, as some commenters have mentioned: the law is the law. However, our country is capable of shaping law to conform and adhere to basic civil liberties. No matter how one argues, the fact remains that many, not one, many cases like this have arisen as a result of how the law now stands. Setting out these facts, the question then remains: is this right? Are you comfortable with this result? Regardless of your political affiliation, such an outcome is not absolute. You may disagree about immigration policy, but can we agree that forcibly separating a child from his/her parent is not an ideal outcome? There are ways to ensure that undocumented workers and their children are treated with basic human dignity as they are transported or wait in limbo. The fact remains that this is an unfortunate result from how our law is currently constructed. However, these results are not embedded in stone. “When you know better, do better.” The more I read into these cases, the more I am sure we can do better. There are ways to enforce immigration law without coming to this result.