A Kafkaesque Immigration Story

Most actions by the Trump administration are infuriating. Many are grotesque. Add heartbreaking to many of the immigration stories, like the detention of Roberto Avalos Magallon and Dolores Mendoza Cerda. Al.com columnist John Archibald tells their story so poignantly.

It’s been a while since I wrote Senator Britt. What’s the point, as she stands in the president’s shadow, her smiles conveying allegiance? Yet, perhaps Archibald’s column can touch her heart, stirring her identity as a mother more than a slave to Donald Trump.

Senator Britt,

I am heartbroken and angry after reading John Archibald’s column about the detention of Roberto Avalos Magallon and Dolores Mendoza Cerda. I hope you know the story. They came to care for their grandchildren (Marvin, Orlando, and Acxel) after the boys’ mother died of cancer. Were they hardened criminals? Rapists? Murderers? No, they overstayed their visas and were seeking green cards. For this they should be imprisoned in a concentration camp, leaving their grandsons to fend for themselves? Are these 60-year-old grandparents a risk to the security of the nation?

This is another sad example of the administration’s Kafkaesque immigration policy, where the point is cruelty. No grace for the brown-skinned. I am confident this disgraceful chapter of American history will be viewed like the internment of the Japanese during World War II.

Even more frustrating, you and your Republican colleagues in Congress are willing to abdicate your Constitutional role to let the president — who seeks to be emperor — violate laws and norms and destroy America’s standing in the world:

Consider the undeclared war with Iran; claiming he alone is smart enough to navigate AI; abusive trade sanctions against Canada; a colonial theft of Venezuela’s oil and natural resources; rampant personal corruption, the latest Don Jr.’s Russian oligarch-funded wedding party; and remaking Washington in his image.

I am weary listing the abuses that justify impeachment. I pray the coming election — despite Republican attempts to prevent a fair vote and convert America to an autocratic nation — will start the long process of restoring our democracy.

What will you tell your grandchildren about your role during the Trump presidency?

25th Anniversary of 9/11

The 25th anniversary of 9/11 resurfaces vivid personal memories of that tragic morning and the seemingly endless days of sorrow that followed. Despite the years, the many stories of loss and grief mixed with sacrifice and heroism are no less poignant.

“Some things cannot be fixed; they can only be carried.” — Megan Devine

Two years ago, near the anniversary, I delivered this reflection on the attack and its tragic repercussions, as our nation responded in fury and with a misguided purpose.

Non-Reciprocal Justice

Until 2017, in capital murder cases, Alabama judges could ignore a jury’s sentencing recommendation and impose their own sentence. I’ve heard the motivation was judges would be less passionate than juries, reducing the number of death sentences. In practice, however, judges — who are elected in Alabama — consistently overrode jury recommendations of life without parole to impose the death penalty. Calvinist law and order politics gets the votes in Alabama.

Recognizing the practice of judicial override was not yielding the expected results, the Alabama legislature voted to prohibit the practice in 2017. Unfortunately, in a legislative compromise to deflect voter anger, the law did nothing to address those sentenced to death before the legislation became law.

Today, 25 inmates are facing execution because the judge disregarded the jury’s recommendation. Jeffrey Lee’s execution is next, scheduled for September 17, prompting this email to the governor.

Governor Ivey,

Toward the goal of equal justice, please commute Jeffrey Lee’s sentence to life in prison without parole. Then, please commute the sentences of the other 24 inmates who were sentenced to death by judicial override.

As you know, the legislature forbid the practice of judicial override in 2017, yet the law did not make it retroactive. Roy S. Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, wrote, “If it was wrong in 2017 for a trial judge to overturn a jury recommendation of life without parole, it is wrong to condemn…individuals who were denied that right prior to 2017.”

Referring to the law, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Drayton Nabers Jr. said, the “message was unambiguous: sentencing decisions in death penalty cases belong to juries, not to judges.”

In Jeffrey Lee’s case, the jury voted 7-5 for a sentence of life without parole. The judge ignored the recommendation.

I trust that you believe in the equality of justice. These 25 who are on death row deserve that despite their crimes. You have the power to enact it during the remainder of your term. As Jeffrey Lee’s execution is imminent, please act quickly.