Sadly this goes on all the time, in either large scale such as this or person by person. Nothing to do with a nation of laws but all with blind zealousness and dehumanizing of those that are powerless to defend themselves.
The $$ benefit to the country is mentioned inside of the essay too.
Hopefully we can all individually learn from this injustices and try to change them at all levels we may reach. From other people's minds to the electoral process.
Take care
Javier
A few chosen parts:
Pg.5
His case and that of a million others could simply be solved by a temporary work permit as part of our much overdue immigration reform. “The Good Lord knows
I was just working and not doing anyone any harm.” This man, like many others, was in fact not
guilty. “Knowingly” and “intent” are necessary elements of the charges, but most of the clients
we interviewed did not even know what a Social Security number was or what purpose it served.
This worker simply had the papers filled out for him at the plant, since he could not read or write
Spanish, let alone English. But the lawyer still had to advise him that pleading guilty was in his
best interest. He was unable to make a decision. “You all do and undo,” he said. “So you can do
whatever you want with me.”...Before he signed with a scribble, he said: “God knows you are just
doing your job to support your families, and that job is to keep me from supporting mine.”
Pg.9
What is worse, the inflated charge, via the binding 11(C)(1)(c) Plea Agreement, reduced the
judges to mere bureaucrats, pronouncing the same litany over and over for the record in order to
legalize the proceedings, but having absolutely no discretion or decision-making power. As a
citizen, I want our judges to administer justice, not a federal agency. When the executive branch 10
forces the hand of the judiciary, the result is abuse of power and arbitrariness, unworthy of a
democracy founded upon the constitutional principle of checks and balances.
Pg.10
The search revealed that a person who was assigned one of the social security numbers
used by an employee of Agriprocessors has reported his/her identity being stolen.” That is, out
of 983 only 1 number (0.1%) happened to coincide by chance with a reported identity theft. The
charge was clearly unfounded; and the raid, a fishing expedition. “On April 16, 2008, the US
filed criminal complaints against 697 employees, charging them with unlawfully using SSNs in
violation of Title 42 USC §408(a)(7)(B); aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 USC
§1028A(a)(1); and/or possession or use of false identity documents for purposes of employment
in violation of 18 USC §1546.”
Pg.15
With quiet anguish, a mature all-American woman, a mother, said something striking, as only the plain truth can be.“This is not humane,” she said. “There has to be a better way.”
.
