Letter to the Editor: Letter writer asks, "What happened to Constitution?"

To the Editor:

What happened to our Constitution?

ICE rounded up 680 aliens last week. Some were labeled “criminals” without their day in court. No due process. No equal protection. Evidently, being suspected of a crime is the “new” high bar for deporting people. The administration asserts that this is okay because “legalities” can be sorted out later. Really?

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment guarantees due process and equal protection of the law to all persons in the U.S.:

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The key word is “person.” All persons, citizens and aliens (regardless of status) alike, have the right to due process and equal protection of the law. This is settled American law since 1886 and in subsequent Supreme Court rulings in 1896, 1903, 1973, 1982 and 2001.

Clearly, we have two different systems of justice today contrary to our Constitution and established law for 131 years.

When did ‘We the People’ give up the Constitution?

Duane Pitts

Moses Lake

dpitts2009@hotmail.com