Lawlessness is considered a pejorative. But breaking bad laws are an essential part of the American story.
Our nation was founded in rebellion. The Boston Tea Party broke at least a dozen laws. Armed rebellion against a lawful monarchy was nothing less than an act of absolute lawlessness. So historically, in America, it is our tradition to break bad laws.
This is why I support Greenfield’s designation as a “safe city” for folks who are here without legal documentation. The fact that they are undocumented should not, by itself, be a reason for arrest and deportation.
Town Councilor Isaac Mass makes a powerful argument against safe cities. He points out that because the federal government ramps up its ICE forces in designated safe cities, this designation actually increases the risk of deportation for those who are here illegally. He thinks that energy should be focused on changing the laws instead. He also argues that lawless behavior undermines the social order.
He’s right about what happens in safe cities in terms of increased federal attention. What is intended to be a safe harbor becomes a federally targeted area instead and more arrests happen. Good intentions don’t always lead to good results. Sometimes efforts backfire.
Isaac and I deeply disagree, however, regarding the idea that one should obey the law at all times, even while working to change it. American history is based on necessary, revolutionary acts of lawlessness. Greenfield’s own history as a safe port on the Underground Railroad, shows that being a designated safe city for undocumented workers is congruent with our historic social values.
In America, we believe bad laws ought to be broken, not obeyed. It’s a part of our national consciousness and the backbone of our democracy. Our disobedient nature helps keep tyranny in check.
“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. What would America look like if he had successfully argued, during the founding of this nation, that the colonies should continue to obey England and dutifully pay taxes? We might have all become victims of a Nazi conquest later on, for one thing. We would have never become a beacon of hope and democratic freedom to the whole world.
I respect Town Councilor Mass, whom I consider a personal friend, and I understand his dedication to the law. It is, after all, his vocation. But I respect America’s healthy skepticism for rules and regulations more. We are not a people who are easily ruled. We do not march quietly to the slaughter. We go kicking and screaming and divert the flow as often as we can.
Undocumented workers, as a group, by and large, represent the newest wave of Americans, people who have come in search of freedom and security; our highest ideals demand that we do our best to offer them safe harbor.
Perhaps the safe city system is fatally flawed, and we are unintentionally building traps for those we are trying to protect. Or, perhaps the answer lies in making more safe cities and towns; if safe harbors were widespread, nationwide, the federal government could not spend the resources to target them all. In the meantime, as Mr. Mass argues, we should all be working hard to elect those who will promulgate more fair and compassionate immigration laws.
Personally, I think undocumented workers all deserve a path to citizenship. I do not think being undocumented should be considered a high criminal offense. I think when cases are discovered, the first legal response should be to document, not deport. Right now, we have fields of rotting produce in California because farmers have lost their labor pool from Mexico. Millions of dollars are being lost.
Clearly, we need these workers as much as they need us. Let’s help them join us in building a better nation, instead of building walls to keep them out.
Trystan Marl Greist lives in Greenfield.