Dura lex, sed lex?

Last week, we had a community dinner with Kathryn Ferguson from the Samaritans, the immigrant-aid organization. Sharing kabab and rice, and Sarah’s-unforgettably-delicious chocolate chip cookies, we also shared her stories and thoughts which have enabled her to help lots of immigrants. Hearing first-hand experiences from one who spends most of her time in the dessert was interesting.

However, for me, the basic ideology of the Samaritans was somewhat more interesting – they try to help the immigrants as much as possible, in so far as their deeds do not break the law.

One of the questions that keep bothering me is whether it is appropriate to help the immigrants for the sake of humanitarianism when the law prohibits it. Many people we met during our one week delegation period said it is. Yet personally, I cannot totally agree with them. Though I know we should treat them not as ‘undocumented immigrants’ but as ‘people dying,’ I still wander between being a humanitarianist and being a politician.

Thus the Samaritans’ activity attracted my attention. Kathryn of course deeply sympathizes with the immigrants she meets in the dessert and tries to help them from the heart. However, she does not give them a ride to cross the dessert or take them to the hospital, since it is unlawful to do those things.

Some people might say it is too harsh to meet an exhausted immigrant, give them some water and food, and leave them without any further help. They are so vulnerable. As she herself mentioned, nobody knows what will happen to them within the next half an hour; the heat of the dessert, border patrols, dehydration, etc. – basically anything can happen, and the chance of something good happening is sadly low.

I believe, however, their behaviors are justifiable. It will be dangerous, though not as dangerous as the dessert is to the immigrants, for them to do something unlawful, especially in Arizona where so many people are eager to be harsh against immigration issues. They can end up in jail if they do – Kathryn gave us some examples of people being caught and spending some time in jail. And it will not help to ameliorate the situation of immigrants, for it means that the number of people willing to help the immigrants decreases and it may give more incentives to the border patrols and other anti-immigration factions to enforce their law more strictly.

Dura lex, sed lex. I used to debate this statement with my father. I agreed on the statement, while he did not. We both do not know the right answer yet – or there is none. Whenever I look to ways of dealing with the undocumented immigrants issue these days, this statement comes across my mind. What is right and what is wrong? Of course the law is seriously wrong, but which one is worse: following the skewed law just now and trying to change it or breaking the law and helping as many people as possible right now? Well, though I should admit that I am slightly lopsided toward the former, I cannot make up my mind firmly just yet. Maybe, this is the most difficult question I should work on during, and also after, the month lying ahead of me.