I recently read a story in the news about a Mexican woman who had been deported after living in the US for 21 years. Both her children were US citizens, and she had left them behind. The immigration laws had effectively broken up her family.
Obviously the woman was cherry picked to put current immigration law in the worst possible light. But it does make you think about the nature of the crime she had committed.
Most crimes are crimes of commission, as in committing a felony. You steal an old lady’s purse. You assault someone. You burn down a house. Other crimes are crimes of omission. For example, if you fail to file a tax return, you have broken the law.
Illegal immigration, on the other hand, is neither a crime of commission or of omission. The reason we deport illegal aliens is not because they have entered the country, but because they are in the country. The crime is being here. Illegal immigration is an ontological crime. The only other ontological crime I can think of is DUI. Even if you are driving under the speed limit and obeying all posted traffic signs, if you get stopped by the cops and blow a high level, it is off to the pokey you go.
With DUI though, eventually you sober up. You never stop being an illegal immigrant. Even if you hold down a job for decades, pay taxes, and own property. There is something about that situation that offends my sense of fair play.
Any talk of amnesty for illegal immigrants is a hot button issue, sure to start a fight. But maybe we shouldn’t be using the word “amnesty.” Maybe we should be talking about a statue of limitations instead.
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2 comments:
I am not sure this is the Republicans' position on this issue. But I do believe that if someone is willing to come and work hard in this country and do jobs that native born Americans will not do..agriculture labor, manual construction...etc... and they are contributors to the economic success of this country and not free loaders...they are okay to stay here in my book as long as they are continuing to go through the proper channels for a work visa or citizenship.
Probably if there were a large influx of ontologically criminal metal widget manufacturing managers into the US, who were willing to do your work for $10/hour you would have a different sense of "fair play."
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