LETTER: Judge’s reasoning makes little sense
Federal Judge Miranda Du’s finding that Section 1326 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is somehow racist is a real head-scratcher (“Judge strikes down ‘racist’ statute,” Aug. 19). I don’t believe the law states that the criminality of re-entry after deportation will be applied only to a certain race or races of people.
Her odd reasoning that the law is somehow racist makes no sense. She cites “equal protection” in her finding. Equal protection from what? Being found criminally liable for entering the United States illegally for the fourth or fifth time? Is she insinuating that the section applies to only certain races of people? She never says.
The judge said she’s “not persuaded” by any rational argument linking illegal immigration and race. Instead her reasoning is this: Because most illegal immigration on the southern border is done by Mexican and Latinx people, and because Section 1326 “bears more heavily” on those people, the section must be racist toward those people. Shouldn’t common sense tell you that this immigration law will “bear more heavily” on any certain racial demographic if that demographic is responsible for practically all the multiple illegal re-entries into this country? How can she ignore this?
If Judge Du has a problem with the section from a legality standpoint, that’s fine. But to declare it unconstitutional based solely on race is beyond ludicrous. It appears all she’s done is to gut yet another immigration safeguard by decriminalizing re-entry into the United States after deportation, gifting the illegal entrant one less thing to worry about.
