Purchasing “papers” from a guy on the corner of a heavily immigrant-populated community is so commonplace that most undocumented immigrants don’t even bat an eyelash at doing so. Often coming from a cash economy, they may not consider or even be aware of the impact employment or financial choices made using those documents could have on another person’s life. Today the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that will examine whether an undocumented immigrant must have knowledge that, by using purchased documents, they are defrauding a live person.

You all know I am immigrant-friendly. That doesn’t mean that I agree with this practice. That said, I think the U.S. government needs to provide more paths to allow blue collar and other immigrant workers and their families into this country. Give them the LEGAL paperwork they need to do the jobs Americans don’t necessarily want to do. Help them to bring their immediate family over so that they aren’t all alone here. Give them the opportunity to buy into healthcare plans, get educated, etc.

I will be very interested to see how the Court comes down on this. Identity theft is a widespread, heartbreaking crime. If I was the victim of this crime, I would be devastated. That said, I think there is a fundamental knowledge difference between the guy who hacks into your local shoe store’s computer system and steals credit card info and the guy who comes here to work hard and earn money and does what the people he meets tell him to do in order to survive. I say go after the guy who stole those IDs in the first place and is selling them. Treat it like drug dealing and target the big fish.

The New York Times has a piece today about the increasingly common practice of repatriating immigrants, both documented and undocumented, who are critically ill and cannot afford ongoing medical care. While many states have victim assistance funds for people injured during a crime, such as the drunk driving accident that left the main subject of this article brain damaged and requiring lifelong medical care, the funds are limited and meant to cover limited hospital bills, not years of care in a nursing facility.

I’m not sure what to say about this practice. On the one hand, if I were a family member in the victim’s homeland, I would be happier to have them home with me. On the other hand, you’d hope that the governmental medical facilities in the people’s homeland would be better equipped to care for them. The medical care in rural Guatemala, especially if you don’t have the money for supplemental private care, is very basic and the facilities extremely crowded. This story is pretty heart-wrenching.

The Washington Post has an article today on the increasing interest in immigration law courses. Although many students are taking classes and clinics, most won’t become practitioners. Like me, they seem to realize that there are less heartbreaking/more lucrative law jobs and that it makes more sense to take immigration cases on the side. I thought I wanted to be an immigration lawyer, but I now realize I would much rather do pro bono immigration so that I can help the people who really need my assistance and can’t afford a lawyer.

The New York Times had a really powerful editorial on the shameful treatment of immigrations nationwide in these raids and then, afterwards, in the prisons where they languish, stripped of dignity and any rights they may have thought they had. The editorial is really thought provoking and, although I hope this period in history ends soon, I will be interested to see whether the following prediction comes true:

Every time this country has singled out a group of newly arrived immigrants for unjust punishment, the shame has echoed through history. Think of the Chinese and Irish, Catholics and Americans of Japanese ancestry. Children someday will study the Great Immigration Panic of the early 2000s, which harmed countless lives, wasted billions of dollars and mocked the nation’s most deeply held values.

That’s surely what the thousands of immigrants being held at detention centers nationwide are feeling these days, especially those who have lived in this country for years as legal residents and are suddenly being locked up for petty offenses committed years ago during their youth. How many of us regret things we did as a child? But should we have to die as a result? The New York Times has a heart-wrenching story about a man whose only crime was to overstay his tourist visa. He spent many years weaving elegant $2,000 gowns in New York City. When he tried to re-enter the U.S. after a recent vacation to his homeland, he was told that he application to adjust his status had been denied and he was jailed pending a hearing.

He should have been safe there. He should have received the same basic rights we are entitled to. But immigrants, as non-citizens, are not entitled to those same protections.

As the country debates stricter enforcement of immigration laws, thousands of people who are not American citizens are being locked up for days, months or years while the government decides whether to deport them. Some have no valid visa; some are legal residents, but have past criminal convictions; others are seeking asylum from persecution.

Death is a reality in any jail, and the medical neglect of inmates is a perennial issue. But far more than in the criminal justice system, immigration detainees and their families lack basic ways to get answers when things go wrong.

No government body is required to keep track of deaths and publicly report them. No independent inquiry is mandated. And often relatives who try to investigate the treatment of those who died say they are stymied by fear of immigration authorities, lack of access to lawyers, or sheer distance.

When Mr. Bah fell and fractured his skull, it took the detention center more than 24 hours to get him to a hospital. By the time they did, after hours of watching him vomit, he was in a coma and remained that way for four months before he died. His relatives had to track him down because no one informed them. When they tried to call the detention center, they were told the center could not give out any information.

Why is our country wasting its resources on people who are trying to better their lives and not on true “criminals.” And why is the government allowing the guards in these centers to get away with degrading and shaming people this way? The government got all high and mighty after Abu Ghraib and yet look what it is doing in its own country. How can we preach basic human rights to other countries and not practice what we preach?

While the Pope was spreading messages of peace, family unity and a calmer, more tolerant approach to immigration, ICE was continuing their family-destroying company raids. I thought it was a particularly interesting touch for them to time their biggest raids to coincide with the Pope’s major immigration speech alongside President Bush. I’m not Catholic, but I thought that was a pretty disrespectful move.