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Substance versus spectacle: what the law actually requires
Prison and deportation are not interchangeable remedies. Each rests on different legal standards, jurisdictions, and procedures. Prison sentences follow criminal convictions after prosecution in state or federal court, with guilt established beyond a reasonable doubt. Deportation is an administrative immigration process (or a collateral consequence of criminal conviction for noncitizens) governed by immigration law and administrative hearings. The image conflates the two in a way that obscures these critical distinctions. Demanding prison for one public official and deportation for another collapses complex legal questions into moral theater, ignoring who bears the burden of proof, what counts as evidence, and what legal remedies and defenses are available.