When The Rule Of Law means Nothing

Imagine you're a judge ruling on an immigration case.

The illegal alien in front of you got into America originally using a student visa, although he apparently never attended classes or got a degree. Nor did he leave when the visa expired, as the law required.

He was actually ordered deported twice, once in in 1986 and again in 1989, appealed his deportation and then lost his appeal in 1992...after which he simply skipped out and remained in America.

The authorities caught up with him when he was arrested for drunken driven in 2011, with a blood alcohol reading of almost double the legal limit in his home state, to which he pleaded no contest. As an illegal alien, he of course was not allowed to have a legal driver's license according to the laws in his state, but he had one in his possession, about which more later. He does not have occupational skills vital to the U.S.

How would you rule? If you're US Immigration Judge Leonard I. Shapiro, you give him an 'attaboy' and a green card.

Oh, there is one major mitigating factor in all this, one that trumps all the others. The illegal alien's name just happens to be Onyango Obama, the paternal uncle of our current president. And the judge is a loyal Democrat donor and a Clinton appointee.

Somehow, I doubt that Judge Shapiro would have been quite so lenient if the defendant's name was, say, Ramirez and lacked any high power connections.

In fact, Onyango Obama,who works in a liquor store in Framingham Massachusetts seems to have been surrounded for some time by what the Brits refer to as grace and favor, a euphemism for royal protection or patronage.

Back when Mr.Obama was originally picked up for drunk driving, he was denied bail and kept in jail based on a detaining order from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who were starting proceedings to deport him back to Kenya.After his arrest, one of the first things he reportedly said to the arresting officers was, “I think I will call the White House.” Of course,people say all kinds of things when they're drunk, so it's not surprising that Onyango Obama testified today before Judge Shapiro he didn't remember saying that.

Of course.But if he did, it apparently had an effect.

Mysteriously, that ICE detaining order was voided suddenly and Onyango was released. But his driver's license (which remember, he obtained illegally) was ordered surrendered and his right to drive suspended for 45 days as part of his plea bargain, which means that Mr. Obama must have been guilty of doing something fairly serious behind the wheel since it was a first offense, or at least the first time he was caught at it.

That court order was mysteriously voided too, and Onyango was quickly granted a hardship driver's license by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles just a week after he lost his license, in order to drive to his job at the liquor store. Again, no one questioned the fact that he wasn't supposed to be legally driving in the first place!

In court, Judge Shapiro referred to Onyango Obama as a gentleman, a good neighbor, who paid his taxes, and met the criteria for legal permanent residency, AKA a green card.

But you know, there are an awful lot of people like that who haven't repeatedly ignored deportation orders, been caught drunk driving or using an illegal drivers license, which is in itself a felony in many jurisdictions and a high level misdemeanor in almost all of them I'm aware of.

And yet, they've been deported. Because they lack the connections Onyango Obama was able to call on.

Those people who refer to themselves as 'immigrant's rights activists' ought to take a look at that, especially since a lot of them voted for Barack Obama.

When the rule of law is so obviously ignored and flouted, it helps none and ultimately destroys all.