The 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” There are many definitions of “due process” however, as a long time judge, my most simple definition of due process is: “The right to be heard by someone willing to listen.”
None of that is happening in the current Immigration and Customs Enforcement cases in the news. There is no point at which those detained may be heard, let alone by someone willing to listen (which usually is a neutral hearings officer or judge.) Justice Antonin Scalia, a very conservative justice, once said that constitutional rights apply to even undocumented persons in the U.S. precisely because if they don’t apply to them none of us can be guaranteed those rights. Imagine being detained by ICE and allowed no opportunity to prove that you are a citizen. All the government has to do is claim you are not a citizen. Without due process you have no chance to prove that you are.
It is not that those detained should not ultimately be deported. It is however necessary for all of us that they, and we, have the basic due process to raise defenses to such summary deportation or other governmental demands which may deprive any of us of life, liberty, or property.
Ken Williams
Everett
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