"Any person who ... encourages or induces an alien to ... reside ... knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such ... residence is ... in violation of law, shall be punished as provided ... for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs ... fined under Title 18 ... imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both." — From Department of Immigration and Naturalization website.
Since 1929, illegal entry into the United States is a federal crime, up to six months in prison for the first offense and 20 years for the second offense. Hiring illegal immigrants carries a maximum penalty under federal statute of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Because these laws are not being enforced, Arizona recently enacted very harsh penalties in order to crack down on illegal immigrants. Now Arizona is getting a lot of heat from our president and others.
On May 1, President Barack Obama condemned Arizona law that requires all migrants to carry documentation (note: the federal law already requires that).
What is it that people don’t understand?
It is a felony to enter this country illegally and there are currently more than 22 million illegal aliens in this country, with more entering every day.
They are draining our resources, our tax dollars and creating a massive financial burden on the taxpayers.
We need to secure our borders, now.
Legal immigration is welcome in this country, but illegal immigration is ruining us and should be stopped.
Mary Jane Newell, South Paris
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The real problem is we aren't
The real problem is we aren't enforcing current laws and have a broken immigration system. The Arizona law says that that you can be demanded to show paperwork if the police "suspect" you are there illegally. Imagine if in Maine police demanded you show paperwork if you looked like an illegal Canadian immigrant (a problem more serious than you think, ask those in the logging industry). We'd all be up in arms, because demanding you carry ID just because you might look like someone who is suspected of being here illegally is ridiculous. It's a slippery slope found throughout history, and BTW it always turns out poorly.
My biggest question for those who want stricter controls placed on immigration is, how much is it worth to you? For every seedy drug dealer, there's also a guy willing to pick potatoes for 1/3 the minimum wage. For every human trafficker there's a construction worker whose keeping the cost of your home improvements down. If you're willing to pay more, that's fine. Just address the elephant in the room.
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Did you read that Arizona's Republican governor just cost that state an estimated $24 BILLION in lost revenue thanks to their insane, illegal immigration "law"! Wow, now that's Republican thinking!
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Voisine I did not read that how did it cost them that much money. Please explain?
To be fair I will answer your question above. Yes any business that knowingly employs illegals should be fined. But it is a chicken and the egg idea which came first the illegal immigrant or the person that would hire them. Both laws should be enforced
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the Constitution isn't complying with YOUR point of view, Amigo...
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"arizona's new law is just an enforcement of federal law" Conservatives like the constitution as long as it complies with their point of view. When it doesn't well then its just a meaningless rag. A state can not constitutionally enforce federal law. The Supreme Court recently ruled on this in a gun case saying that state law enforcement officers could to enforce features of a Federal Gun Control law.
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As reported today, the Arizona law was written and promoted by FAIR an organization identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a racist hate group. Not at all odd that Mary Jane would support the law and this hate group.
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enforcement of existing laws is the answer. but anyone who does, is called a racist bigot and the entire system is tied up in red tape. arizona's new law is just an enforcement of federal law. i actually read it and the enforcement section states that the person whose immigration status is being questioned must already have been arrested for something else. when you are stopped for a traffic violation, you already have to provide identity documentation in the form of a license, registration, and insurance. the spector of racial profiling, harassment, and abuse is there, but those are possible under almost all of our laws in some way of some group or other.
companies should be prevented from hiring illegal immigrants, and the key is also identification which can be considered profiling, and many employers are leery of getting tied up in court by someone screaming racisim.
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Article 123 of Mexico’s General Law of Population says, “A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally.” Other provisions in Mexico’s immigration law state, according to Pat Boone, writing at WorldNetDaily.com, that immigrants must speak Mexico’s language, that foreigners aren’t to be a burden on taxpayers (meaning no health care or government assistance programs), that there will be no bilingual programs in schools or specially printed ballots, that government business will be conducted in Spanish, that Mexican authorities will keep track of every single person in the country, and that foreigners who fail to obey the rules will be fined, deported or imprisoned.”
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a better country who's principles you admire, just move there. I believe the US is better than Mexico, but of course that's just me.
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should be done with the illegals after their employers are busted? and nice job veritas---at least now the crack dealers know you support their "cause", as long as they are pointing the finger at someone else. Your "logic" has no logic...
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It is clear that the right wingnuts do NOT believe in cause-and-effect. Stop demonizing the poor and go after the businesses that are employing illegals. Funny how Republicans can't stand that idea. To go after businesses that are profiting from human servitude would be to "undercut" the Republican "base," after all.
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So I could freely be a crack dealer as long as I was "helping" the police erase other illegal (there's that word again) activity?
So we should welcome ALL illegals with the hope that the "good" ones will rat out the "bad ones"? sorry, dude, that rationale is whacked.
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help the police, especially in the big cities. And I mean in more ways then one.
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Yes they spill their guts to avoid going to jail, thats not helping thats being a rat, something tron knows all too well....
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ILLEGAL...enough said!
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BIGOT, can't be repeated enough!
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hey, dan you really shouldn't be calling yourself names like that, even though it is true.
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I am referring to you and booby and your cohorts. And I'm not calling names, I'm simply stating a fact, a concept completely foreigh to you, I know.
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dan, you are still clueless. a bigot is one who is not tolerant of others views. that describes you perfectly.
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that's alright, you may get better soon.
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no, i'm not in denial. i agree you are a bigot. i've tolerant of your buffoonery.
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although there is not guarantee.
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all i can say is that your posts prove how much of a big moTRON you are.
been fun play, but i have to get back to work. some people are relying on me to earn money so support them.
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When immigrants (both legal and illegal) do not fear the police, but rather trust them, a remarkable thing happens: they co-operate with law enforcement to help keep real crime down.
I know that when I was a cop that I used to get some very good information from members of the Mexican community (whom I treated very well) which allowed us to arrest some pretty bad guys.
A recent article appeared in Newsweek - "How Immigrants Actually Reduce Crime"
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/27/reading-ranting-and-arithmetic.html
Here are several excerpts:
"A new study by sociologist Tim Wadsworth of the University of Colorado at Boulder carefully evaluates the various factors behind the statistics that show a massive drop in crime during the 1990s at a time when immigration rose dramatically. In a peer-reviewed paper appearing in the June 2010 issue of Social Science Quarterly, Wadsworth argues not only that “cities with the largest increases in immigration between 1990 and 2000 experienced the largest decreases in homicide and robbery,” which we knew, but that after considering all the other explanations, rising immigration “was partially responsible.”
To deny that reality and ignore its implications is likely to make life more dangerous all over America, diverting resources away from the fight against violent crime and breaking down the hard-won trust between cops and the communities where they work. Several police chiefs tried to make exactly this point Wednesday on a visit to Washington to talk about the Arizona law, due to take effect in July, and the bad precedent it sets. “This is not a law that increases public safety. This is a bill that makes it much harder for us to do our jobs,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck. “Crime will go up if this becomes law in Arizona or in any other state.”
This is not an ideological question, although some of the law’s supporters, including some cops, would like to turn it into one. Experience has shown that when immigrants think they’ll be nailed for immigration offenses, they stop cooperating with law enforcement. The intelligence needed to find and fight hard-core criminals, whatever their immigration status, will be harder to get. People who feel themselves singled out for discrimination will withdraw more and more into ghettos, increasingly marginalized from American life instead of integrated into it. Smart cops understand all this perfectly well."
Go to the above link, and read the entire article. Arizona Police need to be Police - not immigration agents.
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Veritas, i highly doubt ILLEGAL imigrants are helping the police much, unless they can do it anonymously...duh!
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of the word "ILLEGAL" do you not get? Does that mean we can all commit illegal acts freely, without fear of prosecution? Gee, when did that come into play?
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Deportations are up about 35% over the Bush admin.
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not the ones that hire them, why are you kiddies giving a pass to the farmers, construction business owners and yes even corporations that hire these illegals in the first place. If the law would be enforced and some of these CEO's and mega farmers went to jail maybe it would slow down, doubt it would ever stop when you have politicians who hire nannies and groundskeepers knowing full well they are illegal. Remind you of anyone republicans?
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... those against being here illegally as well as those against hiring illegally. This administrations focus is strict enforcement of laws against employing illegals, but won't prosecute the illegals themselves. They want employers to enforce the laws the government simply won't enforce.
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What is racist or being a bigot to want the illegal immigration to stop? There are many different nationalities that are illegal and all need to go! Come in legally as so many of our ancestors did with a sponser, place to live and a job to earn a living. What part of illegal don't you folks understand??? Our government is destroying this country by allowing the flood of people to continue to flow in.
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Northwoods, Son: if you stop responding to the troll's ridiculous postings, maybe he'll go away. The only reason he puts anything up on these boards is to elicit a response. It's apparent that he lives in an alternate reality, so just leave him there. Boycott tron.
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now that I think about it, the new stories go live at midnight and shortly there after tron shows up. is it just possible the he works for the sj and they have him post such ridiculous comments in order to get the rest of us to respond. when asked if he works, he wont' answer. besides, it is hard to believe that anyone could be as dumb and small minded as dan.
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Now I canot confirm this, but as tron has admitted to being on disability we know he can't work as it would ruin his gravy train ride...but I heard a rumor that the LSJ offered him free access to the blogs if he would simply be first in at midnight to post something to get everyone worked into a tizzy....he just was not smart enough to realize we all get the blog for free..
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that you do not understand? And no, northwood, I do not consider Ms Newell racy, but she is racist.
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hey dan, try again. remember you are the one here who cannot answer a question if something is racist or not. you are the last one here who is qualified to determine who is racist.
and as for a bigot, you need to get a mirror to see what a bigot is.
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So Tron just got off work a little tired please excuse any mis-spelling
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Meant sorry Tron I guess I should go to bed and not play on the computer.
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Now all the kool-aid drinkers are going to attack you and tell you you are raciest.
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