State arrests Illegal Immigrant for Trespassing

We have an immigration system that's broken. We have 10 million illegal immigrants in America, 25 percent in the last two years. So if you have an earned legalization program that has benchmarks of law-abidingness,that has benchmarks of working hard, and you combine it with tough law enforcement, more border guards, a crackdown on illegal smuggling, better detection of those that overstay their visas, stolen-lost passports--what is needed is a comprehensive immigration reform, not piecemeal, punitive measures....What I would do and what I think makes sense is there has to be a light at the end of the tunnel so these immigrants come out of the shadows. And that means a clear path toward some kind of legal status."

...the comment I made above re those who complain about the durrent enforcement of immigration laws being mostly the same as voted for Bush, I believe it's self-evident that those doing the most complaining about the "illegals" are also the one's that most likely did vote for Bush and it appears to me that Bush does not include an agenda of enforcing immigration laws.

My personal view is that the current status of immigration laws, enforced or not, are inane. I have, elsewhere on this forum, posted that I would prefer totally open borders for the entire north american continent in much the same way as the EU has done in europe.

The federal agents in charge of enforcing the immigration laws do not. So the real choice is for the police to follow the letter of the law and allow lawbreakers to walk free by the million, or to attempt to handle federal infractions at the local level. Their course of action may be improper, but it is also not proper for the feds to refuse to enforce the law. Most people don't like watching the laws of their country flaunted with impunity

At the risk of being portrayed as a dog worrying a bone....

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The federal agents in charge of enforcing the immigration laws do not. So the real choice is for the police to follow the letter of the law and allow lawbreakers to walk free by the million, or to attempt to handle federal infractions at the local level. Their course of action may be improper, but it is also not proper for the feds to refuse to enforce the law. Most people don't like watching the laws of their country flaunted with impunity

The laws of every country are flouted with impunity - it's what makes a society liveable.

So no law should be enforced, regardless of whether it is protecting something? Remind me to hold up a bank the next time I'm short of cash. Nice argument.

Brandon9000 wrote:

So no law should be enforced, regardless of whether it is protecting something? Remind me to hold up a bank the next time I'm short of cash. Nice argument.

Very undergrad of you Brandon. I didn't say that. I said that "the laws of every country are flouted with impunity..." I didn't say they should be.

The laws of every country are flouted with impunity - it's what makes a society liveable.

It's a political decision based upon the power of money--those who benefit from the labor of illegal immigrants are generous contributors to the political parties. Any other rationales are just that--rationales. What this all boils down to is the almighty dollar, and nothing will change.

If the police have no legal authority to enforce immigration laws (whcih I believe they don't) then they have to obey the spirit and intent of the law which is - that immigration matters remain the province of the federal government.

It's a political decision based upon the power of money--those who benefit from the labor of illegal immigrants are generous contributors to the political parties. Any other rationales are just that--rationales. What this all boils down to is the almighty dollar, and nothing will change.

Setanta wrote:

It's a political decision based upon the power of money--those who benefit from the labor of illegal immigrants are generous contributors to the political parties. Any other rationales are just that--rationales. What this all boils down to is the almighty dollar, and nothing will change.

I must disagree most rigorously.

What is my rationale for supporting the a plan that would give undocumented immigrants the ability to a path to legalize their status with dignity? I don't make generous contributions to the political parties.

And who is funding the anti-immigrant side-- e.g. the well funded Tom Tancredo (who may be a presidential candidate?

Oh! It must be good patriotic Americans who are defending their country. (Or is that the Iraq war...).

There are plenty of rationales for supporting the rights of undocumented workers. . . (etc.)

If the federal govt was serious about immigration enforcement it would increase those resources so that the immigration laws could be more effectively enforced. That's a political decision.

goodfielder wrote

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If the police have no legal authority to enforce immigration laws (whcih I believe they don't) then they have to obey the spirit and intent of the law which is - that immigration matters remain the province of the federal government.

Is it your opinion that local law enforcement must obey the spirit of the law. But the federal government does not.

If you see someone breaking into someone's house would you ignore it since it is not your responsibility or do something about it.

The federal government is abrogating it's responsibility and by doing so creating problems for the states. Why should localities allow themselves to be **** on because of the federal governments attitude of I don't give a damn?

Note: Someone stated that those who want the immigration laws enforced would vote for Bush. That is a lot of crap.