Christie: (Illegal) Immigrants are not criminals

Damocles said:
And?
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I just think its interesting that our top legal authorities have basically said, its not really any of their concern when undocumented people enter unlawfully. From that standpoint, it will be very difficult to get any real changes through to stem the flow of illegal immigrants in my opinion.
 
Jarod said:
Some of em are criminals.
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It is not criminal to cross over the US border illegally. It is a civil issue with the only penalty being deportation.

Some people who cross illegally may be criminals, but the only ones who are criminals for crossing illegally are those who were deported after being convicted of a crime and return illegally.
 
LadyT said:
I just think its interesting that our top legal authorities have basically said, its not really any of their concern when undocumented people enter unlawfully. From that standpoint, it will be very difficult to get any real changes through to stem the flow of illegal immigrants in my opinion.
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Well, they are mistaken.

They have the authority and responsibility to report any illegals arrested or found to ICE. They do not have the authority to deport them themselves though.
 
Damocles said:
It is not criminal to cross over the US border illegally. It is a civil issue with the only penalty being deportation.

Some people who cross illegally may be criminals, but the only ones who are criminals for crossing illegally are those who were deported after being convicted of a crime and return illegally.
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True, but some of em are criminals and we need to get rid of em. Its the Merican thing to do. If you truely love Merica....!
 
LadyT said:
I just think its interesting that our top legal authorities have basically said, its not really any of their concern when undocumented people enter unlawfully. From that standpoint, it will be very difficult to get any real changes through to stem the flow of illegal immigrants in my opinion.
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Well, it is a fact that it is a civil matter, not a criminal matter and is not any of her concern. It's the concern of DHS and ICE. What do you want her to do?
 
Dungheap said:
Well, it is a fact that it is a civil matter, not a criminal matter and is not any of her concern. It's the concern of DHS and ICE. What do you want her to do?
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Call ICE when her cops pick up an illegal for anything. Whether or not there is an assumption that ICE will do nothing. Ensure that ICE is there when they are released from jail after conviction and time served to deport them.

These are things they can do all the time, and at little cost to themselves.

Even if ICE doesn't do something, the local governments should do what they can and what is requested by law for them to do.
 
LadyT said:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/immigrants_and_their_advocates.html#comments

Being undocumented may be a civil wrong, but it's not a criminal act, Christie said.

"Don't let people make you believe that that's a crime that the U.S. Attorney's Office should be doing something about," he added of entering the country illegally. "It is not."

_____________________________________________________________

Interesting.
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U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said sneaking into the United States is not a criminal act.

Really? That comment is very interesting.

Did these illegals sneaking into the country clear customs at the border? If I, as an American, do not clear Customs when I enter the United States, I am in violation of U.S. law. I cannot tell you specifically which law (maybe someone can help me), but I am in violation of the law and I will be fined when I am caught. Why does that law not apply to them?

Or is it really a law? Do we have the legal obligation to clear Customs at the point of entry into the United States?
 
Damn they've figured it out!

Ha, I've unfortunately known that for a while.

I was talking politics with a judge who is a friend of my family, and I was trying to show how politically savvy I was by blabbering on about my concern that they were committing a crime by crossing the border, when he told me that.

Sad and embarrassing for me, but true. It is not a crime.
 
Epicurus said:
Damn they've figured it out!

Ha, I've unfortunately known that for a while.

I was talking politics with a judge who is a friend of my family, and I was trying to show how politically savvy I was by blabbering on about my concern that they were committing a crime by crossing the border, when he told me that.

Sad and embarrassing for me, but true. It is not a crime.
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Your judge friend of yours said it is not a crime if you do not clear Customs?
 
PorterM said:
Your judge friend of yours said it is not a crime if you do not clear Customs?
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His statement was that the act of a noncitizen crossing the border into the USA was not in itself a criminal act.

Draw your own conclusions or go look up the relevant statutes. Your opinion and mine are pretty obviously less important than those enforcing the federal law.

Believe me I must have said it a hundred times before I was corrected on it. It doesn't change my stance on immigration, but it is important to be factually accurate.

It's always implied and never firmly debunked in the media.
 
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Epicurus said:
His statement was that the act of a noncitizen crossing the border into the USA was not in itself a criminal act.

Draw your own conclusions or go look up the relevant statutes. Your opinion and mine are pretty obviously less important than those enforcing the federal law.

Believe me I must have said it a hundred times before I was corrected on it. It doesn't change my stance on immigration, but it is important to be factually accurate.

It's always implied and firmly debunked in the media.
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Well, it's true. If it were a crime, they'd go to prison, or they'd at least get a fine. If we were to make it a literal crime, we'd probably be the first nation in history to do so...
 
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=8&sec=1325

U.S. Code as of: 01/03/05
Section 1325. Improper entry by alien

(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as



designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.

Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.


Very strange. It sure seems like it's a crime
 
tinfoil said:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=8&sec=1325

U.S. Code as of: 01/03/05
Section 1325. Improper entry by alien

(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as



designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.

Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.


Very strange. It sure seems like it's a crime
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It sure does seem like it's a crime. This sounds like we, as a society, have the laws to fix the problem, we just do not seem to want to do what it takes to enforce the present laws.
 
tinfoil said:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=8&sec=1325

U.S. Code as of: 01/03/05
Section 1325. Improper entry by alien

(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection;
misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States
at any time or place other than as designated by immigration
officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration
officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United
States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the
willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or
imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent
commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or
imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to
enter) the United States at a time or place other than as



designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil
penalty of -
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or
attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of
an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under
this subsection.

Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not
in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be
imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the
purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be
imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than
$250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise
for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws
shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance
with title 18, or both.


Very strange. It sure seems like it's a crime
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Thank you for revealing your deep ignorance about the American legal system.

You should really do some research on misdemeanors and felonies.

What you have here is a misdemeanor punishible on first offense by less than one year in jail.

In other words, not a crime. But thanks for at least trying.
 
HUH, I thought breaking any law was a crime ?

Felony crime now is a more serious one.
But violating any law is a crime to me.
 
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