A 13-year-old should not need to understand asylum law to keep himself from being deported.
A little kid should not be expected to defend himself in an immigration courtroom.
Yet children are being put into a legal system they cannot possibly understand — surrounded by adults who can point to laws, procedures and policies to explain why it’s allowed.
But “it’s legal” has never meant “it’s right.”
I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in hell. But watching adults build and administer a system like this makes me understand why humanity invented the concept.
Because “I was following the law” is not a moral defense.
In this episode of Sourdough Maternity, I talk about children navigating immigration court, the difference between legality and morality, and why government officials should not be protected from accountability simply because they were following procedure.
If someone violates existing law, prosecute them.
And if our laws allow conduct toward children that we recognize as inhumane, then change the laws so that conduct can never hide behind procedure again.
The law is the floor.
It is not my moral compass.
History has already shown us what happens when people confuse the two.
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