One thing I’ve learned while working in the petition room in Family Court is that illegal aliens are no more a civil matter than they are a criminal one. These people feel no compunction about admitting—directly or indirectly—their illegal status, no hesitation in filing for orders of protection against respondents (usually spouses or partners) who are attempting to extort something from them with threats about disclosing their “immigration status” to the authorities.

Apparently, the judges and referees couldn’t care less, because I’ve yet to hear that anything has happened to a single one of these petitioners. And I would be fired for “violating the privacy” of the petitioners if I used their information and took matters into my own hands. One would think, in a sane world, that the right to privacy would not extend to the illegal status of a non-citizen.