Attempted Nashville immigration arrest only one example of how U.S. immigration system is broken | Opinion – The Tennessean

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A look at the role of ICE agents and the rights of immigrants during typical encounters. Nashville Tennessean

An interesting incident played out Monday in Nashville when federal immigration authorities attempted to run a raid at a Hermitage house.

The raid was unsuccessful because neighbors and activists ran interference by forming a human chain to surround two people — a man and his son — to move them from their vehicle to their house. Immigration officials then simply left.

If it weren’t such a serious affair, the scene would almost seem cartoonish. Everyone played their role. The long arm of the law. A daring escape.

The state of immigration in this country at the present is ruled entirely by politics. The outcome of Monday’s events proved that. One interpretation was that authorities were cracking down on law-abiding people who cause no trouble to anyone. The other view is that, as immigrants who entered the country without the cover of law, if for no other reason, the raid was entirely justified.

ICE IN NASHVILLE: Standoff with Hermitage neighbors highlights police role in immigration enforcement

This latest case is far from the first instance in which local affairs have been affected by federal immigration concerns.

A tale of 2 rogue judges

A few months ago, I was fascinated by two cases of apparent judicial misconduct, both having to do with immigration that approached the issue from opposite extremes.

In Massachusetts, state Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph was criminally charged by the U.S. attorney in Boston for allegedly assisting a man to escape from federal officials who arrived in her court to arrest him as he appeared on state charges.

While few if any observers found Joseph’s conduct ethically wise, many were disturbed that the judge would face federal criminal charges when there are plenty of methods to handle judicial misconduct.

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“I have my doubts about her judgment and the judgment of the defense lawyer involved,” Daniel Medwed, a law professor at Northeastern University, said in a telephone interview. “Those doubts are overcome with my concerns about federal prosecutors wielding their power unfairly.”

Then consider, on the other hand, Memphis Judge Jim Lammey.

Lammey came into focus back in April for anti-immigrant and hateful articles that he posted to his Facebook. He was later officially condemned by the Shelby County Commission.

More interesting to me, however, was the claim that Lammey enjoys taking federal immigration authority into his own hands, inquiring into the immigration status of defendants appearing before him, regardless of whether the issue was relevant to the case he is hearing. Lammey also developed a special document for immigrants to sign making their cooperation with the federal government a condition of state probation.

“It is definitely stretching out beyond his normal realm of authority, which is to enforce state law, to go out of his way to assist in enforcing federal immigration law,” said Steven Mulroy, a law professor at the University of Memphis and a former federal prosecutor. “It’s not hard to see a connection between his going the extra mile here and the clearly anti-immigrant things he has posted on social media over the years.”

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We keep kicking the proverbial can down the road

State law and federal law are actually two separate systems that should, if done right, rarely conflict. But in these two cases alone, state and federal law conflict all over the place. One judge is alleged to have assisted a man in evading federal law, while another judge, in charge only of state law, seems to be desperate to enforce federal authority.

“It’s a problem created by our political dysfunction,” Medwed said. “I fear a polarization in how judges approach the issue that reflects political differences.”

There is very little interest in achieving anything better. It profits politicians too much to have immigration as an issue.

If you don’t believe that politicians profit from immigration dysfunction, name any of the serious Democratic presidential candidates who are talking about comprehensive immigration reform in some sustained manner. Or consider how many times Donald Trump has pointed to some real or imagined crisis at the border at just the right moment to drive his supporters to the polls or urge them to turn away from some other issue.

This country had problems a decade ago that immigration reform could address. Guess what? We still do.

Immigration raids in suburban neighborhoods and rogue judges are simply outward signs of more inward, entrenched troubles. But if this is the best we can do, we’ve got much bigger problems.

Alex Hubbard is a USA TODAY Network – Tennessee columnist. Email him at dhubbard@tennessean.com or follow him on Twitter @alexhubbard7.

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