Analogies: The Legality of Border Crossings

When it comes to immigration, a lot of conservatives fall back on the legality argument: they aren't against immigrants (they aren't bigots), they support legal immigration. It's the illegal immigration that's the problem. The people who break the law must be detained. They must be separated from their children. It's just the law, and we are law followers in this country. Right?

No. First, let's understand the basics. Most of the people coming into our country through the southern border are seeking asylum. The legal way to apply for asylum is to show up at the border, at a designated checkpoint, and ask for it. So all those caravans coming across Mexico are actually following the legal procedure. But then we turn them away at the checkpoints and say we're too busy to let them apply - which many folks consider illegal under international law, so we're the ones breaking the law here. Faced with no way to legally request asylum at the border, many of these people cross the border (which is technically illegal, though a misdemeanor) and turn themselves into a border patrol asking for asylum, which is perfectly legal. So we are forcing people to break a minor law, which is normally penalized by a $10 fine, in order to follow the legal pathway to asylum. So is it really the law-breaking that's the problem here?

Let's try an analogy. Let's say your child is sick or injured. You know, high fever/loss of consciousness/lots of bleeding/their-life-is-in-danger kind of trouble. What do you do? Call for help? But what if that help takes too long? What if it never comes? I bet it's the conservative men out there who would be the first to say they'd take their kid to the hospital themselves. We're doers in this country: we take action and solve our own problems.

Great! So you load your kid into your 4x4 because it's a stormy night and the roads are rough and you head for the hospital. But do you conscientiously follow the speed limit? I mean, speeding is breaking the law. But somehow I'm guessing you feel speeding would be justified in this situation. Maybe even a little 'reckless' driving if necessary to avoid downed trees or washed out gullies. You have to save your kid - f@ck the speed limit!

Okay, fair enough, but as you approach the hospital you find the Highway Patrol blocking the road. It's closed, they say. Too dangerous and crowded. Maybe try again later. Well, they are the law, so I'm sure you just sit and wait, even if you can see the road looks totally open. No!
You're the hero of this damn analogy! You do whatever it takes to save that kid. You drive around - over? - those road closed signs and you get your kid to the ER. If Johnny Law wants to stop you, you'll deal with him after your kid is safe.

Well done! You arrive at the hospital and you turn your kid over to the staff who promptly dump them in the waiting room (or a steel cage). Armed security escorts you to a cell, which you willingly accept because you broke the law. They keep you in there for weeks, without telling you what happened to your kid, and then decide you're to lose custody of your kid. I mean, you broke the law! You deserve to be permanently separated from your children. We have to follow the law, otherwise we're a nation of chaos!

If that scenario sounds ridiculous to you, ask yourself why? What does the one parent seeking asylum at the border lack that the parent driving to the hospital has? Does their nationality really matter in this situation? The color of their skin? Of course we're a nation of laws, but that's only a good thing when the law is followed by those who enforce it and its reach and punishments are proportional to the offense.

We also used to be a country of morality and compassion. We held ourselves out as a beacon of decency and opportunity. When we deny the humanity of others, when we close ourselves off and defend our unwillingness to help with absurd justifications based on technicalities, we lose who we are meant to be. Remember: the hero in the story is always the one trying to save the children. The villain always pursues their self-interest at the expense of others. Choose who you want to be.