Sanctuary policies that\nprotect illegal aliens do not exist in a vacuum; they reflect a mindset. What\nbegan as an attempt to ensure \u201claw-abiding\u201d illegal aliens that it was safe for\nthem to report crimes or provide information to police has turned into\nstringently enforced ordinances that protect even violent criminals from being\nturned over to immigration authorities for deportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lest anyone think that\ndisdain for the rule of law was unique to immigration laws, recent rapidly\nescalating events indicate that sanctuary policies were just the first loose thread\nin an attempted systematic unravelling the fabric of civil society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What began as forbearance\nfor impoverished immigration law violators, eventually morphed into protection\nfor criminal aliens and a form of self-righteous resistance to the very notion\nof immigration laws in the name of \u201csocial justice.\u201d Some of America\u2019s most\nprogressive (a euphemistic term for nihilistic and anarchical) bastions have\ncrashed through that barrier and are careening toward the abolition of nearly\nall civil laws in pursuit of social justice. They are now testing whether it is\npossible to have justice \u2013 social or otherwise \u2013 without laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Philadelphia, George Soros-funded<\/a> District Attorney Larry Krasner has ceased prosecuting even many violent criminals. In the City of Brotherly Love, commission of a crime involving a gun<\/a> is more likely to land you in a therapy session than a court of law. (Soros, not coincidentally, has committed vast amounts of money<\/a> to breaking down immigration laws.) Under Krasner, criminals receive \u201csocial justice,\u201d while Philadelphians endure the nation\u2019s second highest homicide rate<\/a>. Needless to say, Philadelphia has proudly been a sanctuary for illegal aliens for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Philadelphia\u2019s got nothing on Seattle, when it comes to dismantling the rule of law in the name of social justice. A decade ago, Seattle crossed the barrier between passively shielding illegal aliens from federal authorities to actively protecting criminals, when it reduced the maximum sentencing for misdemeanor offenses (some of which can be quite serious crimes), for the expressed purpose of preventing noncitizens from being deported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having negated laws in order to protect immigration law violators, Seattle now stands on the banks of the Rubicon, on the verge of eliminating nearly all civil and criminal laws in the city. Earlier this fall, City Councilwoman Lisa Herbold introduced (snuck, might be a more appropriate verb) legislation<\/a> that would have eliminated prosecution of virtually all misdemeanor \u201ccrimes of poverty,\u201d thereby excusing perpetrators who could show \u201csubstance abuse disorder,\u201d \u201cmental disorder,\u201d or \u201cpoverty.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n These crimes account for about 90 percent of prosecutions in the city. According to Change WA<\/a>, under Herbold\u2019s amendment to the city\u2019s budget (which was dropped for now), \u201cAny perpetrator with a credible claim of behavioral health symptoms \u2013 anything from drug use to depression \u2013 would effectively have blanket immunity from prosecution for misdemeanor assault, theft, harassment, trespass, stalking, car prowl, and 100 other Seattle criminal laws.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The long-running assault on immigration laws and enforcement, it seems, has been less of an end in itself for progressive nihilists than a first step in pursuit of much greater ends: tearing down a social system<\/a> that they see as irredeemably racist, repressive, and paternalistic. As journalist Christopher Rufo observes<\/a>, in the worldview of hard core progressives, the people who break laws are forced to do so \u201cto secure their very existence. Therefore, as society is the perpetrator of this inequality, the crimes of the poor must be forgiven. The crimes are transformed into an expression of social justice.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n