As someone on the front lines of the court system, Iâm confirming this. Itâs easy to assume that people are being hyperbolic. Theyâre not. People in the courthouse for speeding tickets and child support are being strongarmed into locked rooms and arrested, loaded into vans under tents behind the courthouse, and they built a fence with netting over it to prevent reporters and court watchers from photographing faces.
One local jail contracted with ICE voluntarily. We were getting close to forcing them to actually follow the rules of ICE detainers and release people if ICE hadnât come for them. Thatâs over now. If anyone gets bond on a pending criminal charge, they are arrested and deported without the chance to prove innocence or guilt.
Two of my clients were victims of severe domestic violence. Nearly all have dependent children. Some of the children are US citizens. There are no questions. No support. Give your kids to CPS â this is the only option.
You know undocumented people can get a driverâs license? They can file taxes and get a tax ID? Those, the ones who tried to obey the law, are being taken out one by one, because their names are in a database that they voluntarily joined. Because they want to be here. They want to be Americans.
The judge in a case of mine gave someone a two-day jail sentence. Gone. Case deferrals for dismissal are available for all Americans; if an undocumented person tries to take the same deal, theyâre gone. A child client of mine had his father disappear to ICE. A woman had her husband disappear.
Itâs now. Detainees kept in horrible conditions, unfed, unwashed, no lawyers, no doctors. Itâs now. Shipped to countries where theyâve never been and left without papers. Itâs now. Itâs now. Itâs happening now. Itâs happening now.