Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The letter of the law and the Judaeo-Christian tradition/ethic ... which is supreme in the torture case of Juana Villegas and newborn son?

From reading all the comments about the growing and needed coverage of the torture of Juana Villegas and the abuse of newborn son in Nashville, sides have been distinctly drawn across the county.

Why punitive treatment of the undocumented is necessary
One side argues that because Mrs. Villegas was illegally in the country without needed documentation, any torture or abuse she received was justified. She had broken the law. NewsChannel 5 called her "a criminal".

These advocates of punitive treatment, however, are not as vocal about the abuse of her newborn son, an American citizen.

Yes, Mrs. Villegas faced previous deportation proceedings. She and her family have been in this country since 1993 -- establishing a home, work history and the raising of four American citizens. NewsChannel 5 can overeagerly call someone "a criminal" if he or she is arrested for operating a vehicle without a license and careless driving.

Yet, along with being illegally in this country, those traffic offenses are generally considered minor by the public. And being illegally in this nation is a civil offense, not a criminal one. Perhaps the previous deportation proceedings add a damning aspect to her personal history. But she would have had a driver's license if the state of Tennessee allowed it. That privilege was removed from undocumented workers several years ago.

Still, advocates of punitive treatment contend that undocumented human beings in America don't deserve any right to any humane treatment. As lawbreakers, all that Mrs. Villegas deserves is immediate deportation. That is what the law demands. Without laws, the late Edmund Burke said, there can be no liberty.

Roots of the law point to compassion
Yet from where has the law in the United States taken its direction and attached its roots? Undeniably, it is the Judaeo-Christian ethic -- from the 10 Commandments to the WWJD to Matthew 25.

In the Pledge of Allegiance, our oath is to the republic and the claim of being under God. Ironically, many of the critics of undocumented workers and their families also wear their faith on their sleeves and tout family values and claim to be supposedly "pro-life."

Is human life worthy of being protected just that of citizens? Should Mrs. Villegas simply aborted her child in the womb so she could have avoided torture at the hands of Nashville legal authorities?

Laws have been challenged and changed. Consider Jim Crow in Nashville and throughout the South. Just recently, the African-American woman who earlier challenged Virginia state law against interracial marriages died, and she was celebrated as a hero.

There are no national holidays dedicated to Bull Connor, the infamous, segregationist. public safety commissioner of Birmingham, AL. He definitely protected the letter of the local and state law during the Civil Rights movement. Some people now call Pima County (AZ) Sheriff Joe Arpaio "the new Bull Connor", this time for brutalizing Hispanic people under the letter of the law -- federal, state and local or whatever passes for "proper procedure".

Edmund Burke also said that for evil to triumph, good -- or those who consider themselves good -- must do nothing. And that's what Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and local Congressman Jim Cooper are doing, nothing.

The greatest American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated the same truth. History -- in reviewing the Civil Rights fight -- would first judge the inaction of the children of light, not the misdeeds of the children of darkness, King told us.

He was right, as history shows us from inhumanity to inhumanity -- the Holocaust, Rwanda, the Spanish Inquisition, slavery in America, Manifest Destiny ... the list goes on and on. Institutions that should have responded instead became the persecutors or supporters of the inhumanity by their silence.

Letter of the law contention is a myth
As for the letter of the law in local courtrooms around the country, it is definitely not followed. Prominent people here who are professional athletes, state legislators and country music stars have avoided the letter of the law for driving under the influence of alcohol and putting other drivers in danger.

Leonard Little, former University of Tennessee football star turned St. Louis Ram, avoided imprisonment for killing a woman while driving under the influece.

The ability of these notables -- to use their vast financial holdings to hire high-powered attorneys -- has provided them the contacts in the legal system to negotiate compromises and hire experts to convince juries that even what they're seeing on police videotape is not true.

Attorneys also have relationships with prosecutors as legal colleagues to get charges reduced or even dropped.

The public accepts this departure from the letter of the law because a strong case is made that the accused has established a positive presence in the community and should be granted leniency. The problem for Hispanics who are undocumented workers is that they don't have the needed amount of cash to hire powerful attorneys. And whether one wants to believe it or not, the color of their skin and the accent in their voice (or inabiity to speak English) dooms them in the legal system.

I won a civics award in 8th grade for my ability to learn all the amendments to the U.S. Constitution. My understanding of these rights also was considered. The lesson I learned from that idyllic setting is nothing like the ugly reality in Nashville and other communities across this nation. People who look like me do not receive the same protections and consideration -- citizens of not, legally here or not.

Why rights must apply to everyone -- including non-Americans
We provide rights to visitors here and even people illegally here because we want the same rights afforded Americans in other countries under their laws.

Yet here in Nashville, more than 1,500 people over the past 14 months have been detained and questioned for hours by the sheriff's department. And they were LEGALLY in this country.

Yet no mainstream media outlet has touched that outrageous story. Why? If more than 1,500 Americans would be detained and questioned by Chinese officials this month at the Summer Olympics, CNN and every other news outlet would be providing extensive coverage. And all the letter of the law advocates for the punitive treatment of undocumented workers and their families would be the loudest voices crying foul and demanding an immediate U.S. invasion of the Asian superpower.

Of course, this crowd would say that matter would be entirely different. The Chinese are Communists and notorious persecutors of the defenseless and innocent. And any charges that have been pressed against the Americans are probably trumped up. What law could these Americans break to endanger the welfare of the Chinese?

That argument is interesting and sadly parochial, considering the number of innocents including children that this nation has killed, abused and tortured under the cause of bringing so-called civilization and God to supposed "savages". And Tennesseans celebrate historical figures like Davy Crockett and Sam Houston who took arms into Mexican territory and supported subversive elements to overthrow the government. Under today's defintions, that would make Crockett and Houston ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS and TERRORISTS.

Go figure.

America's historical bigotry
So what makes the presence of Hispanics here so bad that even torture is justified? This nation's historical bigotry and insistence that European blood and heritage is the only pure trait of Americanism are the root cause of today's xenophobia.

In a nation that claims to be under God and so blessed by the Almighty, the Judaeo-Christian tradition and ethic should remain supreme. Bad laws must be challenged, and we consider the Americans who take on this burden to be worthy of holidays and celebration.

Our pledge also does not include any acclamation of lower taxes. Critics of the undocumented cite the drain on government revenues. Yet in Tennessee, the undocumented spend a larger percentage of their income on sales taxes, which represent the greatest funding for state and local government services.

A University of Arizona study released earlier this decade found that undocumented workers and families in that state contributed almost $1 billion more to the support of government services than they used. And Arizona has a much larger population of undocumented workers than Tennessee, and these human beings also fill essential jobs.

They also pay into the federal Social Security fund. The Feds say that these contributions will keep the fund solvent two years longer than expected.

Immigrants bring no more crime
As for crime and a dangerous presence in Tennessee, a traffic accident two years ago that killed a Mt. Juliet couple -- and a murder of two Nashvillians -- stirred enough fear for the sheriff here to seek federal approval of bringing the heinous 287g deportation program to Music City. That's it. How many more crimes have been committed by U.S. citizens here? Yes, it is their country in which to commit crime.

Yet the undocumented worker whose drunk driving took the lives of a Mt. Juliet couple had 12 previous drunk driving offenses. The Feds' data system flagged him for deportation early in his drunk driving history, but Washington then did nothing. So instead of making Washington do its job, three Tennessee congressmen supported putting federal immigration responsibilities in local hands. So why are these congressmen needed in Washington if they're only going to bring the burden of federal responsibilities to their districts?

Research of crime figures from 1990 to 2004 in the city of Chicago showed immigrant crime rates to be much lower than those of American citizens. The research was released in a study authored by Robert Sampson, chairman of the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. The impressive study is a must read for legal authorities open to enlightenment.

Any terrorism threat presented by immigrants coming across this nation's southern border also is without evidence. In face-to-face interviews I had with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, both authorities stated without reservation that undocumented, Hispanic workers and their families were not terrorism threats. Sufficient security was already in place on the border to claim that truth.

Even more, if Republicans quit blocking comprehensive immigration reform in Congress, this nation would have a temporary work program that would require non-Americans to to first register with the federal government to be here. That way, these human beings would not have to risk their lives crossing the desert into this country or being crowded into the back of lethally hot truck trailers. This nation also could follow these human beings more closely in this country and bring them out of the shadows.

Why not bring more federal responsibilities home?
If it is indeed best for local governments to take over federal responsibilities such as with immigration law enforcement, then why not bring the responsibilities of the Social Security Administration(SSA) closer to home?

Its long delay in awarding disability benefits to the financially and medically suffering and dying remains one of this nation's most under-reported outrages. The average wait is two to three years to get benefits after initial denials. I contracted leukemia and almost died two years ago. Yet my first two applications for benefits were denied.

When candidates say that every family in this nation is one serious medical illness away from financial disaster, they are speaking the truth. My wife and I know. It doesn't matter if you live in more affluent Williamson County or more socially challenged Davidson County(Nashville).

Universal health care in this nation is a moral must.

People die waiting on SSA benefits. Some lose their jobs or their employers feel forced to stop providing health care coverage because of rising costs. More people die waiting on SSA benefits than are killed by undocumented workers. Yet no person in authority does anything about SSA's failings, and most of the nation's news media is oblivious.

Following the Judaeo-Christian tradition/ethic
Deep down and by historical standards, we all know why the deporting of undocumented workers is such a priority. It is an easy way for politicians to get votes for re-election. It is an easy way for right wing radio talk show hosts to get listeners. And it is a way to feed America's racist underpinnings that still go unchallenged, no matter how many black men are nominated for the presidency.

As Christ continuously preached, go to the heart of the law. Take it from stone tablets and bring it to life in your actions. His law -- as derived from his Jewish upbringing and faith -- stressed compassion and welcome to the strangers among us.

That point is indisputable. And for a city such as Nashville that has more than 1,000places of worship, the 287g deportation program is the most gross of hypocrises. If these congregations are not going to stand up and act up to force an end to 287g, then their places of worship should be turned into bowling alleys. At least that way, the social worth of these places would be more visible and meaningful.

Yes, definitely yes, by the heart of the law that's rooted in the Judaeo-Christian tradition and ethic, Juana Villegas and her newborn son were wrongly tortured and abused by Nashville authorities.

It's that basic and tragic, no matter the amount of rationalization and ranting by the ignorant and intolerant.

1 comment:

randyjet said...

I see that Tim does not believe in facts or rational thinking. The illegal woman is guilty of a CRIMINAL offense, NOT a civil one. Illegal entry into the US is a criminal offense. A second one as she did, is a FELONY. If you overstay a visa, THAT is a civil matter. A Matricula card is NOT a visa, of course Tim thinks that it is the RIGHT of Mexicans to decide who may or may not enter the USA. Our democratic rights are spit on!

This woman was NOT tortured in any way shape or form. All that she got was the standard treatment ALL pregnant women in custody get. I am outraged that he thinks that illegals should get better treatment than Americans. If Tim can show any way in which she was treated worse than any other prisoners, THEN I will join him in expressing outrage at that. He has NO such things to offer, so I have to assume that she was not treated differently. Simply saying something does NOT make it true. I would leave that kind of thing to Bush and McCain. It cuts no ice with me or any thinking person.