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Is Illegal Immigration A Crime?

Greg Hengler
Blogger, Townhall.com

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Leave it to Paul Taylor of The Pew Hispanic Center to explain that it is sort of, kind of, maybe a crime but maybe not. It just depends on what the definition of crime is!

HT to VHABEEB.

Tags: Immigration

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IC2much Wrote: Sep 16, 2010 6:40 PM

Build the FENCE, then they should be deported..starting with those who clog our jails/prisons, send their children with them!! It is not heartless, they are not citizens if they were born here, if we have no jurisdiction over them because they are citizens of another country, they cannot bestow citizenship on their children, we don't want to break-up the family. And say their "anchor Baby" is of age don't allow them to obtain citizenship for their parents. system

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Crispian Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 7:24 PM

It is a crime, a misdemeanor to be exact.

The caller already knows illegal immigration is against the law but is calling C-SPAN to find out whether it is a "crime"...is the caller stupid or is he actually asking something more than the definition of words?

Taylor picked up on the fact that the caller was asking something more and addressed the perception of it as a "crime" in "layman's terms".

It is more like speeding, where it is very rare one will be thrown in jail. And if one is found guilty of speeding, one does not thereafter become a "convicted criminal." After receiving a ticket one doesn't think of oneself as a "criminal" and you wouldn't blame someone for highlighting the semantics of that term.

When we think of "crimes"...

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Thebigmick15 Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 5:27 PM

It’s not merely ILLEGAL Immigration, it is INVASION.
The latter is NOT ONLY Illegal it is AN ACT OF WAR!
Kill them all.

Mick

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Kenny Z Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 4:45 PM

If a law is broken, it is a crime. Illegal immigration being illegal is a crime. Doesn't seem to difficult to determine.

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vladimir estragon Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 5:03 PM

"If a law is broken, it is a crime."

What does the law say? People without papers on U.S. soil have committed a crime? Do you get papers when you drive from Tiajuana to San Diego? From Buffalo to Ontario?

If you find a dead body in your back yard, has a crime been committed?

This is not just semantic mumbo-jumbo, it's a very important angle to law.

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Thebigmick15 Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 5:30 PM

Bullsheite Vlady the impaled.
Naw Not even that HF4-CH4 "When it ain't got the balls to be bull or the substance to be sheite!"

DEFACTO Illegal Immigration is when YOU COME HERE WITHOUT PERMISSION!
Don't matter what you DeJurefaggots have to quible about the DOCUMENTS.
What you got DE FACTO on the Southern Front is INVASION!
Invaders are SHOT ON SIGHT!

mick

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vladimir estragon Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 5:42 PM

Bigmick, you'd better go check and see what's banging around in your closet.

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Stoic Patriot Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 4:12 PM

To quote Charlie Brown: good grief.

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vladimir estragon Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 3:52 PM

" It just depends on what the definition of crime is!"

Well, did you listen to what the man said? Usually if you're caught without papers, you're not arrested or charged with a crime, you're just deported. So is it a crime if you're not arrested or charged? The guy said right on the video, it's a semantic distinction. But, hey: semantic distinctions aren't for our patriotic Americans!

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Thebigmick15 Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 5:31 PM

You caught talking MexiSpic in public you should be shot as an INVADER.
Papers be damned.
mick

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Skycdr Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 1:51 PM

I have to ask this question of all the progressive, liberal, democrat, nutcases. Why is the United States the only country in the world that cannot express it sovereignty???!!!!

You explain that to me some time.

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Kenny Z Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 4:48 PM

Excellent question Skycdr. Hey lefties, answer the question!

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vladimir estragon Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 5:42 PM

Skycdr, how does Canada "express it sovereignty"?

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Origanalist Again Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:57 PM

Well, he has a point. If the government doesn't charge you is it a crime? If a tree falls in the forest......

The government has decided it doesn't like this law so it might as well not exist. So much for "we the people".

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CubanPeete Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:42 PM

A bit off topic, but this whole "new and improved" TH is making me feel like an unwanted illegal alien. In truth, I feel more like a non person. BTW, I'm really ol' Cuban Pete, but I have been unable to find my way in for a long time. The system forgot my password, but when I try to have "it" issue me a new one, "it" just goes to that blue screen dead end. When I contact TH using the "Contact Us" feature, I never hear a peep back. What's up with all that?

Anyway, the melodramatic rant out of the way, It's just wonderful when laws, like the constitution, can be reduced to "semantics". Guess the IRS is just evil for going after tax evaders who simply don't believe the law wants them to pay all those taxes. Or the FBI is inexcusably...

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Origanalist Again Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:50 PM

Cuban Pete, you too?

Origanalist

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CubanPeete Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 1:12 PM

Yeah, weird. My blog is blocked permanently, even from myself. Don't think it's worth a blog anyway, but, geez. And one gets the impression that there are no real people in charge of the IT system. It's all automated and run by the evil machines.

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Origanalist Again Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 1:26 PM

The only reason I kept a blog was beacause I couldn't figure out how to erase it, being the computer genius that I am. But I've just had two posts denied, seems we have thin skinned hall monitors controling content. Oh well it's their site, I just spend a lot more time elsewhere and they arent one of my home pages anymore.

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SG2 Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:59 PM

It is the manifestation of post-modernism that everything is relative, there are no absolutes except for those defined as such by the people who hold power. So, illegal aliens aren't criminals because those in power see them as potential political capital wheras tax evaders (who aren't in the Obama administration) are criminals because those in power need other people's money to pay for their ideology. Sort of Nietzschean isn't it?

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rescuedogsgirl Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:41 PM

Marijuana is ILLEGAL. People go to JAIL for using this ILLEGAL drug, BUT when it comes to immigrants that are here ILLEGALLY, THEY get a pass. Go figure! What is happening to this country?

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albert henry Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 1:32 PM

That is how the grass becomes legal, because it's smuggled by illegals, now legals, carrying a substance that is illegal. now legal

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Bea44 Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:28 PM

Doesn't the word "ILLEGAL" connote specific criminality???? If not thence our entire legal profession needs a new type of double-edged narrative to describe all the esoteric, semantical ambiguities that now exist to confuse within it's purview.

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wiseone Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:24 PM

No. It's not semantics. The harmful effects of coming to this country illegally are not mitigated one bit by insisting that "illegal immigration" might not be a crime.

Are back to the Clinton defense so soon? It depends on what the meaning of "is" is?

This is just more of the same leftist LYING on which their entire agenda depends.

They can't admit that oral sex is sex because the perp is their hero and if they tell the truth he'll be impeached.

They can't tell the truth about ILLEGAL immigration because they would be admitting that they are aiding and abetting criminals with all of their "sanctuary cities" and "immigration reform" legislation.

Guys like this shouldn't get the time of day, let alone a microphone.

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vladimir estragon Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 6:51 PM

"They can't admit that oral sex is sex."

Actually, that was originally Newt Gingrich's idea. And Monica Lewinsky complained to Linda Tripp that Bill wouldn't have sex with her, and Linda agreed that he was being a jerk.

So if Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Monica Lewinsky, and Linda Tripp ALL think oral sex isn't sex . . .

who am I to disagree?

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clarityseeker2 Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 11:55 AM

Hold on there...
This is exactly the same as being stopped by a state police officer for having travelled at speeds far greater than the "posted" speed limit.
Speed limit says 50 mph.
You drive on this road at 90 mph.

You see? It's all "semantics".
Is it "illegal"? Well, that is up for debate----'cuz, it's semantics.
See? That's how it all works.

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moderateGuy Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:28 PM

Now wait just a minute, C; I thought those signs on the road were only suggestions; kind of like a "suggested retail price". You mean they're NOT?!

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albert henry Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 12:52 PM

Yesterday traveling back from visiting mom, in the mustang, I traveled at speeds greater than the posted, esp. in the passing lane on the two lane roads. I noticed there were cars with different colored lights on them, stopping cars, and explaining the technical apspects of the suggested speed limit signs. I believe the cops suggested they make a contribution, to the particular state's general fund

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Dan_NV Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 11:44 AM

Semantics? It is illegal to enter this country without a visa or similar authorization. To enter without this documentation and authorization by the State Department is a crime. That it is not enforced as such and that those caught in this country illegally are not typically prosecuted for that crime is where the problem lies. Strict enforcement of immigration laws would dramatically reduce the number of people committing that crime. Not too difficult to understand really.

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vladimir estragon Wrote: Sep 07, 2010 6:15 PM

Huh? I enter countries all the time without any documentation other than my passport. Tell the Canadians they have to start providing visas for every America who wants to cross the border.

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BK22 Wrote: Sep 08, 2010 7:19 AM

Ah sorry Vlad but a passport IS documentation...you know data, picture, etc...

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