It looks like the immigration debate isn’t going away to die soon as it just keeps coming up again and again. Personally, I’m really sick of hearing about it and I think that it comes down to what’s politically correct. The one extreme wants to deport everyone, and the other wants to give illegal immigrants the same rights and privileges as United States Citizens.
Illegally entering the United States is a federal crime, and violators can be punished with criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses may result in up to a 2 year prison sentence. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.
Am I missing something folks? Where’s the argument?
Anyway, as you all know Arizona passed some of the strictest immigration legislation in the nation in 2010. It immediately started a nuclear firestorm that ultimately involved the Supreme Court, and led to a great deal of the legislation being nullified. However, the most contentious part of the law is finally expected to go into effect. That is, police officers in Arizona are required to verify the immigration status of those they stop while enforcing other laws; if they suspect the individual isn’t reporting to the IRS. Rather if they suspect the person is in the U.S. illegally.
Now, I’m seriously pro-deportation, but even to me this is asking for racial profiling, and I guarantee you racial profiling will definitely be going on. I mean, it’s not like the Russians are illegally going to be entering the United States through Arizona.
As such I’m kind of baffled. Civil rights activists intend to make sure they know about any alleged victims as a result of the law, but how are they going to decide whether the person is actually said victim? Racial profiling or not, a vast majority of those illegally entering the country are from our neighbor just south of the border. So the question is what’s to stop a U.S. citizen from filing a discrimination lawsuit as a result of a traffic stop?
Like I was saying, I’m all for deportation, but this legislation is imbecilic, and the politicians who have proposed it just want to look like they have the country’s interests at heart. I think a very simple solution exists to take care of the issue (I can just see the expression on your face). First of all; do NOT offer free healthcare and other social services to those without citizenship. Do NOT give them the same rights as citizens, and do NOT allow them to work in the United States. I know many employers hire illegal immigrants, but many have implemented I9 verification as part of their employment background check process. Those employers that do utilize illegal aliens should face hefty fines and criminal charges for doing so, and should receive a permanent criminal record at ICE, and an unannounced audit every few months.
Categories: Immigration
