But as an adult, and over years as a law enforcement official, I came to understand better the true nature of my life’s course — a life and career made possible because the law was not enforced against me.
For those who support maximalist law enforcement — and “sealed” borders — my presence in the United States might look like a failure. But blind enforcement is not what it means to live in a society of laws. In a democracy, anyone who has the power to enforce the law also has the power — and the duty — to enforce it with discretion. Not every crime should lead to punishment. Not every punishment should be meted out at the maximum. Law enforcement requires us to exercise our humanity and sense of justice, always mindful of the demands of safety, in individual cases. Discretion in law enforcement can be abused, of course, but the alternative — the letter of the law without the spirit of the law — is worse.
I was lucky to stand before a law enforcement officer who understood this, and who granted my family a few days of freedom when we needed them most. Thanks to him, we were reunited with our father in Queens.
From there, my mother was able to call one of the only Americans she knew, a rabbi who told her about the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a nonprofit devoted to helping refugees. The day after Christmas, we walked into the society’s offices in downtown Manhattan and my parents learned how to apply for asylum.
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society continued to represent us, pro bono, for nearly a decade while my parents made their asylum case. Life during that time was not always easy. I remember coming home from school one afternoon to find my mother, who had found work as a schoolteacher, crying in the kitchen after a colleague had threatened to have her deported. I remember long days spent at the I.N.S. building in Newark, periodic reminders that even as our life in America took root, our situation was precarious.
Our uncertainty ended in 1986, when President Ronald Reagan signed a law making any immigrant who entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. There has not been an amnesty program in this country since.
President Trump has radically changed both the letter and the spirit of the laws that govern immigration and asylum. His administration has issued more than 60 serious changes to the policies and rules that determine who may come to the United States and how. Taken together, these changes have curtailed the possibilities for countless children with cases like mine.
Of course a logical person may ask why didn't you just stay in Israel being that Israel is homeland for all the Jews, obtain Israeli passport and then venture to Miami like rest of Israelis do!
In any case immigration policies of a country is not based on a personal experiences that people go through be it positive or negative experience.
In the end what bothers these people is the fact that Trump administration has started enforcing laws that ironically was approved and passed by Dems! Now the same people had no issues what so ever with Deportations under Obama which allegedly was the highest ever ( can some one confirm the numbers with low IQ Joe) but all of a sudden under Trump they all became immigrant adovcate overnight!!!
Now that we have impeached the criminal-in-chief and tarnished his name in perpetuity, we need to complete our patriotic duty by removing him from the office next November and then kick his ass in the courts of law making him a pitiful, poor homeless person in Florida!
Why have you resorted to censorship? It is true that Obama had Iranian ESTAs removed. And all the impeachment by the bungling Democrats will achieve is to re-elect the racist Conman in Chief unless they can produce proper evidence which maybe why Pelosi has blinked.
No censorship. Just enforcing quality and high standards expected from my postings.