Awawdeh v. Exeter

Last month, the Exeter Police Department enlisted the translation services of Bashar Awawdeh, a Jordanian immigrant, to resolve a simple assault and battery case. The Department then detained, seized, and imprisoned Awawdeh on the suspicion that he was an illegal alien. An ICE agent arrived to verify Awawdeh’s immigration status, but mistook his papers and suggested imprisonment. After being jailed for 26 days, Awawdeh was finally released on bond with help from the American Civil Liberties Union. While it’s sad that America has come to jailing brown people for legally moot and completely false charges, there are a few qualifiers Exonians ought to remember before passing judgment—especially since liberals rarely take notice of this.While this specific incident was a uniquely egregious miscarriage of justice, it is not as if this is something new. Awawdeh was jailed unjustly, as the Supreme Court has unequivocally stated in Arizona v. United States of America (2012) that it is not a crime, and instead a civil matter, to remain in the United States in contravention of immigration law: the Department had no legal authority to take on the role of ICE. However, under Democratic rule from 2010 to 2012, it was common for states to have laws that made it a misdemeanor to be an illegal alien. It’s clear that anti-immigrant hate is nothing new.One should also avoid mistaking this incident for the norm. ICE, as authoritarian as it is, mostly succeeds in fulfilling its role of deporting illegal immigrants and leaving legal immigrants be. Only a small number of deportations are found to be of legal immigrants. This does not improve the harsh reality that ICE still exists or that deportations go on, but to think that arresting legal immigrants is the norm is ludicrous.Still, it’s a sad reminder of the state we live in; one in which innocent citizens can get thrown into jail for a month just for speaking Arabic. No immigrant should suffer that: betrayed by the very country they hoped to realize their dreams in. Every activist and social justice advocate should be up in arms about this.And that’s proof Exeter hardly has any true activists. Exonians don’t begin to fight the injustices—even the ones large enough to involve the ACLU—outside of our campus. Does all outrage fodder need to be spoon-fed to you, Exeter? Apparently so. Protesting a political position statement that already goes above and beyond what would be expected of an impartial administrator took precedence over the literal arbitrary detention of immigrants so close to our campus. Even worse, not only have no Exonians acted on this, but few even know this happened. There hasn’t been a peep from anyone: not from clubs, individuals, and not even The Exonian. You can’t combat injustice if you never seek it out. This is a legitimate, reasonable outrage, but no one even knows about it. Before Exonians begin to consider fighting for social justice, they must look outside our Exeter bubble for once.In any case, whether because it’s too much effort to fight for social justice or because Exonians would like to stay in their bubble, Awawdeh v. Exeter proves the hollowness of Exeter’s activism. The first step is making the effort to be aware of injustice within our broader community. The next step is to challenge that injustice. Unfortunately, Exonians have taken neither step.