We are, most of us, familiar with the statue of Lady Justice, the blindfolded, sword-bearing icon whose scales symbolize the balance our justice system strives to enforce. The great lady is a metaphor for proportionality, the justice principle that details how in our nation a punishment should fit the crime.
It is this statue that keeps coming to mind when I think about Kelly Yu, the Peoria restaurant owner, wife and mother who has been jailed in Eloy by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since May 28.
Yu’s crime? She came to the U.S. illegally from China at the age of 18, back in 2004. She was pregnant at the time with her daughter Zita, now 21 years old and born on American soil. Immigrating illegally marks the beginning and end of Yu’s lawbreaking — and an issue she has spent years trying to rectify in court…