Post #3624862

Politics, when you need it. The truth, always. Highlights from Darializa Avila Chevalier’s June 18, 2026 interview with The New York Editorial Board, presented without comment (aside from one short note on the Israel portion). — ON IMMIGRATION Q: …What should our federal immigration policy be? And start specifically with deportations. The DSA does not like deportations very much, believes in free flow of people across borders. Is that where you stand? If you are OK with some deportations, under what conditions ought people to be able to be deported? A: I am not OK with any deportation. I think all deportation is wrong because I think it is an incredibly cruel punishment that is really only relegated to people on the basis of where they were born. And, you know, I think that we just should not have a system that allows deportation to happen at all... Q: Are there countries historically you can think of that don’t have borders, don’t deport people who aren’t there legally? Like, is there a model for that? A: Well, first of all, we can think about nation state borders as a larger, longer, more philosophical concept— Q: I would like your philosophical view. I think that is not a usual view. A: …you know, when we talk about the border, a lot of people think about it as like a hard line in the sand, but really it is a system. It is like a social system that we’re engaging in, and more and more, it’s a militarized project. It’s one that is deeply dehumanizing to so many people. — ON ISRAEL Q: Do you believe Israel should continue to exist as a country? A: …[P]eople of the region should have a final say on what their government and their country looks like... the only path that will actually allow everyone to live in safety and dignity is one where everyone in the region is equal before the law. [Note: The journalists talking to Chevalier did not further press her for a “yes” or “ no” answer to the question of whether Israel should “exist as a country.”] — ON CRIME Q: [Y]ou’ve been a prison abolitionist, a decarceralist. What should happen to somebody who has killed somebody else? A: …when I think about this question of harm, I think how do we create a society where people feel so safe that they don’t need to pick up the phone and call the police.. Q: But what do you do to the murderer though? A: ….I have spoken to clients at public defender’s office where you hear the larger story of what happened, and it was folks who were under so much stress from the conditions that they were facing that they lashed out in a way that was out of character, in ways that they deeply regret… Q: But, did we answer what happens to the murderer? Do you not incarcerate the murderer? A: You know, again, I’m talking about this question between the distance between the world we want to see and the world that we’re at… Q: But can you get a little less abstract? A: Well, this is what I’m saying is that when that happens, and as someone who has sat in so many courtrooms, to me, all of that is tragic. The fact that the murder happened is tragic. The fact that there was a circumstance in which that could even come to pass is tragic… — So. Murders “happen” and borders aren’t real, except when it comes to Jews moving to the Middle East. Left-wing Democrats have learned nothing since 2020. As you know, I have been frustrated with many of President Trump’s recent decisions, as well as the way he has used his office as a money-making scheme. But if leftist voters really want the policies Chevalier pushes — and, again, they chose her against a liberal incumbent — the Republican Party is likely to be running the United States for the foreseeable future.