Illegal Immigration not a crime.
 

The standard banal canard of xenophobes is that illegal immigration is a crime, but it's not, at least not at the present time. Illegal immigration is not a felony (like murder), nor is it a misdemeanor (like drunk driving usually is). Rather, "Improper Entry By Alien" is covered by Title 8, Section 1325 of the United States Code and "Civil Penalties for Failure to Depart" are covered by Section 1324d. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/caseco...1325.htmlWhile these code sections provide for penalties such as fines and incarceration, the maximum jail time for a first offense is six months, which would make these offenses comparable to a speeding ticket, what is commonly known in the law as "an infraction."

Under federal law, an infraction is not a crime; it is a civil offense. And in practice, very few people who are arrested for illegal immigration are ever convicted. They are usually booked and released. If and when they show up for their court proceedings, they are almost always able to choose to remove themselves from the United States voluntarily rather than being convicted of improper entry or failure to depart. A rough equivalent would be the choice to attend traffic school rather than have a traffic ticket appear on your driving record.

There are probably some 11 million people in the United States who are subject to arrest for improper entry or failure to depart. As a practical matter, it would be nigh on impossible to apprehend these people, so the federal government spends very little time doing so. Rather, there are token and selective enforcement efforts by the federal government that give the illusion that something is being done, much like the War on Drugs. And then there's the misguided enforcement efforts of towns like Hazleton. To wit, the penalties for improper entry and/or failure to depart the United States are the sole province of the federal government. As such, Hazleton will almost certainly find itself on the wrong end of a lawsuit in federal court any day now.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...&client=safari

I can't be certain of this, but I'm pretty sure most taxpayers would rather not have their tax money being used to pay for non-citizens to sit in jail for a few weeks awaiting their immigration trials.

You mean the same way taxpayers have to pay for illegal immigrants health care? Hmmm

YAY!!! Quicksilver, you're back...the lounge is different without you helping to fuel it :popcorn:

I think that comparing federal immigration laws to state law is sort of like comparing apples to oranges. Immigration and the territorial integrity of the country is a compelling enough federal interest for the feds to kind of do whatever they can and part of that are the voluntary departures. If those who voluntarily depart return without authorization, then I believe there is a federal criminal law that kicks in with a 10 year sentence to go along with it.

I am not necessarily a fan of ICE or CPT but I am also not a fan of not preserving the integrity of American borders. (That includes you too Canada!)

Just decided to sit back and watch the wabbit run..........:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Your analysis may be correct. However i wonder if in reality what bothers people most is the failure of the authorities to enforce the law, and the decision of those who decide for a better life to violate the law to achieve their goal. Personally, like many other issues that often have excuse after excuse by those on both sides, i'm just tired of the hipocracy of them all. :confused:

Definitely. There is tremendous frustration on both sides of the issue. It is a dirty secret that nobody really wants to face. Specifically, the thousands and thousands of illegal immigrants working in factories, construction, hotels, agriculture, etc. There's so much talk about these people yet nobody really wants to do anything about it perhaps knowing that our economy would take a big hit.

On the other side of things, there is frustration and anger about having to support illegal immigrants for uninsured and unpaid medical services and the strain that they put on the education system. Illegal immigrants have children here and they attend our schools to compete for resources. Like it or not, illegal immigration does cost us a ton of money even before considering the costs to enforce the immigration laws.

There absolutely needs to be major reforms but there still have to be strict controls on immigration. It's not going to be easy but I still think that eliminating the citizenship-by-birth would be a good start.

interesting...i guess you would be one of those people who think natural citizens should take the citizenship test along with immigrants? i think that wouldn't be that bad of an idea...;)

Why should natural citizens take the citizenship test along with immigrants who have come to this country leagally and have applied for citizenship?

What were talking about is ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

It is pretty sad how little American's know about their own country. :tsk:

My idea is that children born to illegal immigrants should not get citizenship by virtue of being born on US soil. That doesn't mean that the child cannot one day attain legal status. If a child is born to parents who are here legally, be it as a permanent resident ("Green Card") or perhaps even student or working visas (not including tourist visas) then the child could either be granted citizenship or at least attain the same legal status as the parents. Children born to a citizen (mother or father) should be entitled to citizenship.

:rant: : OFF

Sounds right to me. :thumbup:

I was listening to a radio show yesterday and the president of the local Hispanic League (or something) was on talking to a rep from MD. She kept trying to ask the rep basically if he was racist towards Hispanics, he of course wasn't and cited that he was against immigrants that come into the country without the necessary paperwork.

He actually had a really good line when asked if "he understood why they come over illegally...."

" I don't ask a criminal why they did what they did in this case. If you rob a bank, I don't ask you why did you rob the bank as a means to justify the robbery."

When the rep asked the Pres. of the Hispanic League why illegals couldn't simply follow the process as other immigrants do...she had no reply.

Very interesting. Especially the last part.

I find it interesting that although not in all cases the moral climate regarding the decision to come to America for a better life is not a decision made with the intent to persue the process legally but instead to circumvent the law. Yes i understand the desperation but what we find ourselves with are people who's character leads them to make this decision. That decision then requires them to break other laws and so on and so on. :confused:

Exactly, and I'm sick and tired of hearing if justified (by other Hispanics, rarely any other group) as to why it is "ok" in their case to go around the law.

What health care? I constantly hear people mentioning this? As taxpayers, we don't pay for anyone's health care. We don't even have a system of national health care.

Yes, if someone doesn't have insurance and they are dying, they will be saved by a public hospital, but as soon as they can leave, the hospital will slap a bandaid on their ass and boot them.

I suppose while somoene is dying we should first do a check on whether they are a citizen?

This has nothing to do with illegal immigrants. The same would apply to someone visiting the US on vacation from another country.

i was an illegal for quite a while. Funny thing is I married a mexican(she is a naturalised citizen ) which is how i became legal. I was already working at the time. My 3 kids are us citizens albeit i much rather they be british but my wife has the final say in that.

If u can read this, thank a teacher. If it is written in english, thank a soldier
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

I COULD be wrong but doesn't tax money pay for medicare and medicaid:dunno:

If they have a tourist visa, then they are legally allowed to be here.

You need a social security number to quality for medicare or medicaid, thus illegals do not receive such benefits.

Yes, but that has nothing to do with my point.

What is the point that you are trying to make?

From the Center for Immigration Website:

Social Security and Medicare. Although we find that the net effect of illegal households is negative at the federal level, the same is not true for Social Security and Medicare. We estimate that illegal households create a combined net benefit for these two programs in excess of $7 billion a year, accounting for about 4 percent of the total annual surplus in these two programs. However, they create a net deficit of $17.4 billion in the rest of the budget, for a total net loss of $10.4 billion. Nonetheless, their impact on Social Security and Medicare is unambiguously positive. Of course, if the Social Security totalization agreement with Mexico signed in June goes into effect, allowing illegals to collect Social Security, these calculations would change.

http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

Illegals take more than they contribute.

Good answer. Now test to vote sure, but not test to be a citizen in the country they are born in.

Again why do people skim over the ILLEGAL aspect????

And so you actually think illegal aliens don't have phoney SS cards? Sure you do. :rofl:

Stupid right-wing websites! :rofl:

Bank of America is now going to offer credit cards without a SSN being required. They allow Non SSN people to open up accounts and if you have an account for 3 months they will now let them get a credit card without supplying a Social Security Number. I called B of A today to ask how I go about getting numerous credit cards without a SSN and she put me on hold 3 times obviously talking with management. I mentioned that if no SSN is required then I can open an account with a false name and after having a good account standing after 3 months I could then qualify for a credit card less the SSN. I asked her who is going to pay the tab for these credit cards after the people max them out and disapear. At this point the only thing she would say is, can I help you open a credit card account! When I went to open a bank account years ago even though I had $10,000 in cash they wouldn't let me open an account without a major credit card. Oh yeah I forgot I was an american with a social security number. Sorry but this pisses me off:confused:

Already been posted. :thumbup: http://www.xoutpost.com/lounge/27168-...on-status.html