No, but there's a difference between speeding and murder. The punishment should fit the crime. You have yet to explain why illegal entry is such a horrible act that it justifies arresting entire families and forcibly evicting them from this country. Who knows? Maybe it IS that horrible; you just haven't bothered to explain that yet.
Our laws should reflect our social standards, not define them. That doesn't mean we can break laws we don't like. However, it also doesn't mean we have to follow all laws blindly without ever questioning them or lobbying for change.
If there's truly no difference between the two, the penalties should be the same. However, the penalties are
not the same. I'm still wondering why the penalty for illegal immigration should be as severe as you propose. When you speed, you get a ticket and pay a fine. Why, for example, wouldn't it be OK for illegal immigrants to just pay a fine?
You think there is some
other reason they are coming here?
I wasn't trying to
defend anything; I was stating a fact.
In
very brief summary, my "defense of illegal immigration" is that a significant percentage of illegal immigrants
should be allowed to immigrate legally because they benefit us both socially and economically. The fact that they
aren't allowed to immigrate legally is evidence that our immigration laws are f$cked up and (gasp!) need to be fixed.
You should check out the recent congressional testimony on this topic. Congress invited a whole
herd of economists to talk to them about the economic impact of illegal immigration.
The vast majority of them (maybe even all of them) concluded that these people benefit our economy. So much for your "leech off of our country and break our laws in the process" argument.
Are you
serious?
Just as easy as it is for you to label any changes as the result of pandering - no difference at all.
I'm not the one with an agenda here. I'm not in favor of amnesty, but I
am in favor of laws that make sense. Just because we have "laws in place" does
not mean that they make sense. You continue to argue that these people should be kicked out because they "broke the law" without any demonstration that you know what the law is, or how it operates, or why you think permanent eviction is the appropriate punishment. Sounds to me like
you're the one with the agenda. What is it?