You can’t trust the state, even when it appears no one else can save you.   And now survivors of the terrible earthquake in Haiti are learning the same, painful lesson:

More than two months after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, at least 30 survivors who were waved onto planes by Marines in the chaotic aftermath are prisoners of the United States immigration system, locked up since their arrival in detention centers in Florida.

These are not criminals — just people overwhelmed by the quake and subsequent aftershocks, looking for food, water and shelter.  When the Marines evacuated them, they were under the impression that they could join relatives already in the U. S., but instead they were immediately arrested and held for deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement — despite a current suspension of deportations to Haiti.  All of this, because they didn’t already have a piece of paper from the U. S. government granting them permission to come here.  And yet more immigrants have all but disappeared into ICE’s detention center network, with family unable to find them.  Some that were lucky enough to be freed were granted tourist visas, allowing them to stay for a short while, but not to work.

But even when their loved ones are put in cages for no reason by the government, people can’t seem to let go of their implicit trust of the state:

The government’s actions have been especially bewildering for the survivors’ relatives, like Virgile Ulysse, 69, an American citizen who keeps an Obama poster on his kitchen wall in Norwalk, Conn.  Mr. Ulysse said he could not explain to his nephews, Jackson, 20, and Reagan, 25, why they were brought to the United States on a military plane only to be jailed at the Broward center when they arrived in Orlando on Jan. 19.

The cognitive dissonance of that paragraph is almost dazzling: an Obama supporter who doesn’t understand why the Obama-led government jailed his nephews.  Even with the boot on their neck, people still look to the state to save them.  Will they ever learn?

Never trust the state.

[Cross-posted from The Libertarian Standard]

119. Frustrated that drivers arrested for DUI might actually be acquitted, a Tennessee lawmaker is pushing a bill that would ban defense attorneys from advertising DUI-related services.

120. While we’re in the Volunteer State, aspiring johns may wish to know that they could lose their car if arrested for soliciting prostitution.  Not convicted, mind you.  As Memphis Police director Larry Godwin put it, “I’d say seize every dadgum vehicle and send a message.”

121. Boston puts the kibosh on bottle service in bars and clubs, because according to the licensing board chairman, Beantown “has a lot more to offer than just getting people inebriated”.

122. Actor Wesley Snipes receives the maximum sentence—36 months—for not voluntarily filing his tax returns, although he was acquitted of the more serious charges of tax fraud and conspiracy.

123. Sheriff Joe, on the go: the self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America” sweeps through Arizona’s Maricopa County and rounds up troublesome Mexicans, half of whom might actually be here illegally.

124. Senate leaders agree to jack up taxes on fuel for private jets by 65 percent.

125. A Seattle man who smokes marijuana legally for medical purposes has been denied a life-saving liver transplant due to his drug use.

126. A utility subcontractor in Brooklyn Park, Minn., became lightheaded from chemicals in the bathroom of a home where he was installing a hot water heater.  He called the police, and on his word alone, they raided the home on suspicion that it housed a meth lab.  Instead they found vinegar and pickling lime, which the homeowner used to maintain his saltwater fish tank.

112. A-raiding we will go:

• Massive sweeps in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas nets hundreds of arrests, 1,300 traffic tickets and some seized cash.  All in the name of keeping us safe from terrorists.
• Police in Akron, Ohio continue a “Gun Violence Retention Sweep” that resulted in 72 arrests, although no guns were confiscated.

113. Minnesota seeks to conscript banks into its ranks of tax collectors, requiring them to rat out customers who owe the state money.

114. Another isolated Tasing incident leaves a a University of Miami graduate in critical condition.

115. Flying the heavily scanned skies:

• L. A. International Airport will start using body-imaging scanning to search for contraband under passengers’ clothing.  The technology “essentially shows how the person looks without clothing.”
• The Department of Homeland Security leans on airlines and cruise lines to collect fingerprint data from all foreign travelers departing the U. S.  Industry lobbyists claim the effort is cost-prohibitive.

116. Porn film producer John Stagliano faces multiple Federal charges of distributing obscene material.  Said “Buttman” of the charges: “With the war in Iraq going so well, Osama bin Laden captured, the economy thriving, our public school system fixed, and our crumbling infrastructure completely repaired, the Bush administration’s top priority seems to be harassing filmmakers and watching our movies.”

117. Shock to the system: a Colorado man convicted of murder served 20 years in prison, where the state put his electrician skills to good use, transporting him all around the correctional system, and even driving him to Denver to take his exams and paying his license renewal fees.  But now that he’s paroled, the state licensing board is threatening to pull his license based on his murder conviction, even though they’ve known about it for years.