In a March 2011 interview with O'Keefe, NPR journalist Bob Garfield described the ACORN scam: "So let's just recap for a moment the ACORN scenario. You lie to get into – the offices. You lie, subsequently, about the lie you told to get into the offices. You edit the pimp shot into the trailer to create the illusion that you were somehow wearing it during your sting. You go on television wearing the same pimp outfit and let interviewers observe, uncorrected, that that’s what you were wearing when you confronted the ACORN employees. If your journalistic technique is the lie, why should we believe anything you have to say?"
"Yes, it is different in the sense, that there are other ways to commit immigration fraud. But every single person, who sneaks across the border illegally is a fraudster."
You'd be hard pressed to find a lawyer who agrees with that. Now people who break immigration laws to cross the border can utilize fraud once they are here (false documents, stolen identity, etc). But its like saying everyone who breaks into a home steals a TV set. It happens sometimes, it is made easier by breaking in, but they are not the same thing.
More importantly you are side stepping my point and arguing semantics. The article is about fighting people who prey on those so desperate to go to another country they will risk anything. So when you quote someone who (ironically) has committed fraud in several senses of the word and try to change the subject, don't expect much trust for what you're selling.
The optimum committee has no members. -- Norman Augustine