Jackson Jambalaya

 The Bible is rife with stories of man’s cruelty to his fellowman. Rising above such behavior has been the great challenge of civilization. Since its founding the United States has progressed – though slowly at times – from a legal order that practiced subordination and harsh punishment to one that outlawed cruelty to women, children, prisoners, and other vulnerable groups. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791, banned “cruel and unusual punishments” reflecting the nation's sincere commitment to justice and humane treatment.

Arrest practices include pre‑dawn raids with guns drawn, racialized sweeps, force used on families including separation of children contrary to court orders, and American deaths.

The investigations show a detention system where neglect is routine, oversight is weak, and detainees are treated with a level of brutality that exceeds criminal incarceration. Conditions reported include festering infections, ignored medical requests, vermin infestations, prolonged solitary confinement, preventable deaths, rotten food, contaminated water, and violent use of restraints.

AP reporting shows grossly expensive, too-rapid-for-due-process deportation of immigrants into confinement by cash-hungry, often abusive governments like South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, and El Salvador. 

Data drawn from multiple government sources and court records show half or more detainees have no criminal record at all, just civil immigration charges such as illegal entry, reentry, overstays, etc. And many with criminal convictions were guilty of traffic violations and non-violent misdemeanors, not dangerous felonies.

Together, AP’s findings depict an enforcement system where cruelty is not incidental but structural. They reveal a pattern of cruelty at every stage: arrest, detention, and deportation and contradict claims that ICE primarily detains dangerous criminals.

If all this is true, you might ask, why haven’t Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment come into play? 

The answer is ironic since Trump regularly portrays illegal immigrants as criminals. Immigration enforcement, however, is legally classified as civil, not criminal. The Eighth Amendment only applies to the punishment of criminals. While other laws can apply, judicial deference has allowed punitive conditions to persist though detainees are not supposed to be punished at all. 

Consequently, convicted, hardened criminals must be treated humanely while ICE detainees suffer sanctioned cruelty.

“For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty” – Psalm 74:20.

Crawford is an author and syndicated columnist from North Jackson.