We weren’t kidding when we said this is a crisis.

Yesterday morning former 34-year Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau sat down for an interview with WNYC’s Brian Lehrer to discuss life post-DA’s office.

After touching on the debate over trials for suspected terrorists and Morgenthau’s op-ed in the Daily News last week explaining his support for the NYCLU’s lawsuit against the State for inadequate indigent defense services, the conversation moved to our immigration system—what Morgenthau called “a stain on our reputation” (start listening on WNYC.org at around 14:30):

“I think the way we treat immigrants is a national disgrace and I’m ashamed of what we do…I think anybody’s who’s here in the united states—legal or illegal—is entitled to the full protection of the law, and they’re not getting that….It’s a very, very serious problem and again, it’s a stain on our reputation.”

That Morgenthau, the legendary longtime federal prosecutor, is publicly acknowledging that the federal government continues to deprive “these undocumented immigrants their constitutional rights” should provide a wake-up call to those still in denial about our broken immigration system.

We’re not making this stuff up. Get involved.