DHS Fuckery: Border Patrol Edition

The Border Patrol deported an illegal immigrant and his one-year old daughter. Doesn't sound too evil, right? Well, just hold on. The mother of the child is a fifth generation American citizen. The Border Patrol gave her only a few hours to get a court order stopping them from deporting the child, who was also an American citizen.

It took the mother three years to get her daughter back. The Border Patrol's rationale for not holding the child overnight was "it would cost a tremendous amount of money." That "tremendous amount" was all of $200.

The mother sued the Border Patrol. The courts so far have just tut-tutted that "jeez, we wish the Border Patrol had done things differently," but they are not about to hold DHS or the Border Patrol accountable for what was, in essence, the kidnapping and exile of an American citizen.

This is all of a piece with the Obama Administrations craven cowardice in not confronting the legacy of torture of the Bush Administration. This is part and parcel with the Bush and Obama Administrations' fight to prevent any justice for those who were tortured.

When the government is permitted by the courts and by successor governments to blatantly violate the law, then we are in an environment where the law is only for the peons to obey and only the little people (you and me) are the ones who are made to be answerable for our actions. We cannot claim to be a nation of laws when the agents of the government are freely permitted to commit crimes in the name of the government.

That is not the recipe for a stable society.