ICE is following the law in California, and the locals are hopping mad. From the San Francisco Chronicle,
ICE arrests man at Alameda County courthouse, first since enforcement surge.
Even though the Chronicle‘s article is written in English, we will have to translate the piece to uncover what really happened.
ICE agents arrested a person inside the Alameda County courthouse last week for the first time since a federal enforcement surge started earlier this year, according to the Alameda County Public Defender.
Good! “A person” was arrested. That person is not named but is described with masculine pronouns.
“He” was in court for a routine hearing on his criminal case but was arrested by ICE agents in the hallway afterward.
But when he exited the courtroom, two ICE agents in plain clothes “accosted him in a courthouse hallway and then took him out of the building where an unmarked vehicle was waiting.”
I would infer that the ICE agents were not wearing masks. The public defender tells the Chronicle that,
the client is now in a detention facility and his detention does not appear to be related to his criminal case, and he has no criminal convictions.
But he was in court on a criminal charge. There’s a 99.99% chance that the criminal case is what alerted ICE agents to his whereabouts. The client is an illegal alien, subject to detention and deportation.
The public defender complains,
People who follow a judge’s order to attend court should not have to fear federal agents kidnapping them and dragging them away to detention centers.
First of all, he was not “kidnapped.” Even a member of the California Bar should understand that distinction, or his license to practice law should be revoked.
These federal agents were enforcing federal law in a lawful manner. Actions taken by a state judge are of no concern to them. ICE agents answer to Immigration Court and the federal judicial branch.
If this county public defender didn’t like what went down outside the county courthouse, he should take up the matter with the U.S. District Court for Northern California. Odds are that he would get a sympathetic hearing there.
Our democracy cannot function if this continues.
Was his client, an illegal alien, a registered voter in California? This being California, he may well have been.
Otherwise, language fails me. I have no idea what leftists mean when they invoke “Our Democracy.” Duly sworn federal agents enforcing federal law should be entirely consistent with “democracy,” even within the Republic of California.
The public defender asserts that he,
will not discuss any details of [the client’s] pending criminal case, his immigration status or the possible reason for his immigration arrest.
But take his word for it that the client was the victim of an outrageous miscarriage of justice.
The only way out is through.
