I was listening to KUOW (our local NPR station) this morning when I heard a local report regarding reaction to the goverment’s recent implementation of immigration laws. Specifically, the current rannygazoo has to do with the fact that the INS and immigration courts are “removing” (the new term for deporting) immigrants who generate as few as a single felony DUI, based primarily on provisions in immigration law that allow for deportation of non-citizens who do not reflect the proper “character” to qualify for continued residency in the United States.

I’m sure I’m not privy to a lot of the intricacies of this particular discussion, but still I feel like I’m missing the point. Why exactly should I care if immigrants who are caught driving drunk get deported? Why, in fact, should I do anything but celebrate the situation? Are these people alleging that they have been fraudulently charged? If so, it wasn’t mentioned in the report. (And bear in mind that this was NPR, not Faux News. If there was credible and widespread evidence of goverment officials abusing this procedure, you think they’d have mentioned it.) Are they angry because they only get one chance to fuck up and endanger themselves and others before getting the boot? If so, well, excrement occurs, don’t it?

Apparently some folks in this predicament have protested that such an act would cause them undue hardship. Among other things, they cite the fact that they have families in the States, and that forcing them to decide between splitting up the family and moving back to the Old Country is unfair.

How about splitting up the family of an innocent bystander who gets plowed under by a drunk driver? What about the hardship of knowing your Mom or Dad lost their lives and killed someone else to boot, just because they couldn’t bear not to have another beer or three or six before getting behind the wheel?

If it would mollify those affected by this law, I’d happily include an amendment to the resolution mandating that native-born American citizens be expatriated for felony DUI as well.