The problem is, even “10 people ordered released” is explicitly not the same thing as “10 people released” when the government just ignores the courts, which is what they’re doing. It’s not that hard to get the courts to agree that this is illegal, because it is. It’s much harder to get ICE to comply with the laws.
It’s great that he’s trying, but are any of these people actually released now? That’s the critical question. If they’re not actually being released, then all these things he’s doing and encouraging others to do is performative. And that’s the problem, people think they’re “helping” when in reality, it has gone beyond that. People need to understand how deep the corruption actually is and how much damage has already been done. The systems of democracy and justice we used to rely on are no longer reliable, and it’s counterproductive to still believe they are in the face of the evidence that reality is providing.
When all’s said and done, I’d rather have proof that ICE ignored 1000 orders than only ignored 10 and nobody challenged the other 990. It’s not one or the other, we can still use the court systems to create a trail of accountability while we also work to dismantle the systems being put in place to ignore the courts. As flawed and incomplete as the Nuremberg trials were, they only made it as far as they did because so much was documented by people who thought they’d never be held accountable for their actions. Every ignored court order is the chance to punish someone when they are no longer in power.
And besides, even if they only obey one out of every ten, that’s still worth the effort when the alternative is just not trying because people don’t think it’ll work.
The problem is, even “10 people ordered released” is explicitly not the same thing as “10 people released” when the government just ignores the courts, which is what they’re doing. It’s not that hard to get the courts to agree that this is illegal, because it is. It’s much harder to get ICE to comply with the laws.
It’s great that he’s trying, but are any of these people actually released now? That’s the critical question. If they’re not actually being released, then all these things he’s doing and encouraging others to do is performative. And that’s the problem, people think they’re “helping” when in reality, it has gone beyond that. People need to understand how deep the corruption actually is and how much damage has already been done. The systems of democracy and justice we used to rely on are no longer reliable, and it’s counterproductive to still believe they are in the face of the evidence that reality is providing.
When all’s said and done, I’d rather have proof that ICE ignored 1000 orders than only ignored 10 and nobody challenged the other 990. It’s not one or the other, we can still use the court systems to create a trail of accountability while we also work to dismantle the systems being put in place to ignore the courts. As flawed and incomplete as the Nuremberg trials were, they only made it as far as they did because so much was documented by people who thought they’d never be held accountable for their actions. Every ignored court order is the chance to punish someone when they are no longer in power.
And besides, even if they only obey one out of every ten, that’s still worth the effort when the alternative is just not trying because people don’t think it’ll work.