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The entire team at the Law Offices of Zachary Blake met each week to discuss the firm’s caseload, specific problem cases, and to share opinions or propose a strategy. The meeting usually lasted a couple of hours and always featured a catered breakfast much like the one Micah Love enjoyed at what the investigator referred to as the ‘PISS on Izady’ meeting.
This particular meeting went overtime. After a lengthy discussion over the firm’s caseload, the lawyers were anxious to discuss and offer opinions on Zack’s venture into a terrorist hostage negotiation crisis.
Zack permitted an open discussion, but it soon became clear that he’d made up his mind to proceed with Parsons and defer to the company’s expertise. As such, there wasn’t much to talk about, so most of the lawyers returned to their respective practices. Those that remained were Zack, Marshall, Marshall’s top associate, Amy Fletcher, and the firm’s long-time managing partner, Sandy Manning.
“Zack, be reasonable. This is going to cost a fortune. Are you sure this is something we want to take on?”
“Aside from the obvious humanitarian aspects of this situation, Imam Ghaffari, Jack Dylan, and the Dearborn Muslim community are important sources of business for this firm. We’ve been through a lot together. I want to help.
“Sandy, I respect your position as the firm’s watchdog. If you prefer I do this with private capital and manpower, I will. I expect you to look at these things from a dollars and cents perspective—that’s your job. One way or the other, I’m going to do this.”
“I’m sure you know that the East Dearborn Muslim community represents over one-third of the immigration department’s cases. Sandy, that’s almost one-half of the department’s revenue,” Amy added.
“I understand how you guys feel—there is a role for the firm to play. Zack hit the nail on the head. It is my job to mind the store and ensure these things make economic sense. However, it is also my job to determine whether they will bring about a positive result for a client or good PR for the firm. I am warming to the possibility that this operation could have a net positive revenue-generating effect in the long term. If the operation is successful and the right public relations campaign follows, it could be even better. I’m on board. How can I help?”
“Your job will be to handle the money and the logistics. We must make sure the operation is funded at all stages. Parsons’ bills and expenses will be paid in a timely manner. Marshall, Amy, and team will handle the international law aspects of the situation and any litigation, diplomatic, bureaucratic, legislative, or executive branch snafus that occur. Parsons and I will try to limit the immigration division’s role. The longer we keep the operation private, the better off we’ll be. If things go wrong and Marshall or Amy must call in the feds, we’ll just have to adjust on the fly. Our immigration division has superior expertise—they will deal with the blowback and get us the support if, and when, we need it.” Marshall and Amy nodded their appreciation and understanding of their role.
“Sandy, the most important person in this room is you. The money must be there and must flow as needed.”
“I have your backs, guys. You can count on the firm and me.”
The conversation continued into the lunchtime hours. Sandy Manning gagged when he heard the initial sum Zack needed to commence the operation. Wisely, Sandy kept his opinion to himself. Blake made Manning rich beyond his wildest imagination. Sandy owed him everything. The operation would proceed, and the money would be there.
After Sandy left the room, Marshall, Zack, and Amy sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes, and then Zack raised the Gonzalez case.
“Anything new on Gonzalez, Marsh? What a nightmare having these two cases at the same time. Have we located the kids?”
“Amy?” Marshall turned to his chief associate.
“No,” she retorted. “We have been unable to locate anyone at Homeland or ICE who knows where they are.”
“How cruel and incompetent can these people be?” Zack wondered.
“Under RonJohn’s zero-tolerance immigration policy, thousands are in the same boat as the Gonzalez family. That makes finding them much harder—a needle in a haystack situation,” Amy grumbled.
“President Golding, to his credit, rescinded John’s draconian orders, but the damage was already done. As this case demonstrates, there are communications issues between the administration and ICE. This incident would not have shocked anyone when RonJohn was president, but under Golding’s new guidelines, this seems to have taken everyone by surprise,” Marshall added.
“Marshall, Amy, I am sorry to say this, but I think you guys are going to have to sit out the Izady operation and handle the Gonzalez case. We have to find these kids. Like Izady, spare no expense—find them!” Zack bristled.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, Zack. My department is a new one here, and some of our lawyers are too inexperienced for either situation. I assure you, though, that Amy and I can handle both. If we need help, we have plenty of resources to tap into. The largest hurdle will be untangling inter-department government bureaucracy. There is no coordinated tracking system between the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Health and Human Services, and Homeland. These pricks separated families without any established protocol.”
“This was a new low, even for someone as corrupt and unfeeling as RonJohn,” Zack growled
“The idea was to deter migrant families from coming to the United States. Sounds good on paper, but the administration failed to consider how bad things were in these migrants’ home countries. Extensive violence and extreme poverty are a way of life in Central America. People felt it necessary to take a chance on the land of the free,” Marshall suggested.
“The plan was to prosecute those who entered the country undocumented. As it played out, however, the policy resulted in thousands of migrant parents spending months in cages. Parents were unable to communicate with their kids, and in many cases, like Gonzalez, they don’t even know where they are,” Amy retorted.
“Isn’t the ACLU involved? Can they help us?” Zachary wondered.
“The short answer is yes; the ACLU is involved. They filed a lawsuit and persuaded a federal judge to stop the separations and reunite families. However, as we have seen here, small numbers of separations continue. HHS means well, but the sheer volume of families makes kids hard to find and reunions almost impossible. We’re talking about thousands of kids,” Amy groused.
“Holy shit!” Zack exclaimed.
“It gets worse. According to HHS officials, it would normally be quite easy to track the kids and return them to their parents. Unfortunately, records were automatically deleted because the computer system was not properly modified to account for separations. Each step in the process is vulnerable to human error, which increases the risk that children will be lost in the system. Perhaps the Gonzalez kids were taken so late in the debacle that corrections have been made and they’ll be easier to find,” Amy continued.
“Please stay on it, guys—spare no expense.”
“We will, Zack. I promise. Now go rescue the Izady family. We’ll hold down the fort,” Marshall assured.
