Honor and defend
“[T] he liberties of none are safe unless the liberties of all are protected. But even if we should sense no danger to our own liberties, even if we feel secure because we belong to a group that is important and respected, we must recognize that our Bill of Rights is a code of fair play for the less fortunate that we in all honor and good conscience must observe.” — William O. Douglas, former Supreme Court Justice, A Living Bill of Rights
Among America’s litany of current controversies is one some may say is less consequential because it pertains to individuals who are not only not American citizens but who came to our country illegally.
There are certain elements pertaining to the deportation of nearly 300 Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador that may arguably appear dim in light of the wave of changes promised and swiftly delivered.
The targeted group, alleged gang members?
That is not the issue.
Their country of origin and how these Venezuelans came to the United States?
That is not the issue.
Whether law enforcement has documented evidence of crimes committed personally by each of these individuals?
That is not the issue.
The destination of a “terrorism confinement center” in El Salvador to which these individuals were sent after Venezuela temporarily refused to accept the deportation of its nationals?
That is not the issue.
The money spent on this exercise, including $6 million to a foreign government to jail an approximate 261 individuals whose country of origin is now demanding them back?
As much as we, and as much as our country’s change agents like to point out, expenditures that lack a reasonable bang for the buck, that is not the issue.
The issue is not the who, the why, the how, the where, or the how much.
The issue is whether our laws — America’s foundational laws — have been followed or abridged.
Due process — American due process — has its roots in our Constitution’s Bill of Rights and was further enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment following the Civil War.
The government — our government — at neither the federal nor state level, may deprive any person of life, liberty or property without not only informing them of the charges against them but guaranteeing the right to contest those allegations at a hearing or trial in a court of law.
The issue is, do we, as a country believe this fundamental right?
The issue is, are we, as Americans, willing to defend this fundamental right?
The issue is, do we, as Americans, “recognize that our Bill of Rights is a code of fair play for the less fortunate that we in all honor and good conscience must observe.”
— Breeze editorial