Journal pudge's Journal: Felonies and Misdemeanors 11
The immigration debate has highlighted that many people know little about our criminal justice system.
There are two basic classes of criminal offense: felony and misdemeanor. Being in this country illegally, with no additional crimes, is a misdemeanor.
Both misdemeanors and felonies are punishable by deporation, fines, and imprisonment. The difference is primarily of degree: a prison sentence of a year or more requires a felony charge.
Current law says there is a fine and maximum prison sentence of six months for illegally entering the country, eluding immigration officials, or entering the country by lying/concealing information. The House bill did two things: it increased the penalty to one year, and it added "otherwise present in the United States in violation of the immigration laws or the regulations prescribed thereunder" to the definition.
This last part is really just a housekeeping detail, for most practical purposes: the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants in this country entered the country illegally. Adding it to the law makes it easier to prove in court, but for overwhelmingly most people, does not change culpability.
So if you entered the country illegally, all it means is that a. the government can more easily prove you broke the law which you actually broke, so whining about that fact just makes you look stupid, and b. the maximum penalty for that crime you broke is doubled, and since we don't want to put most of you in jail because it costs us too much, this has no practical effect.
Now, for the relatively few illegal aliens who entered the country legally, and then lost their legal status, this does represent a substantive change. But for everyone else -- the people most angry about it, and marching in the streets -- it does not.
But since the news media doesn't tell you these things, it requires actually reading the law on your own.
Now Playing: Sox @ Yankees 2006-05-09
Whenever this comes up... (Score:2)
In my case close to a year passed from when I sent in the required paperwork until I had a receipt that I had fulfilled my obligation and was indeed a legal alien. For that year I was in complete limbo without any way to prove that I had filed the needed paperwork. The original papers turned up two years later from a completely different office...
Considering how horribly inept the immigration authorities are, I have a hard t
Re:Whenever this comes up... (Score:2)
Re:Whenever this comes up... (Score:2)
This is more or less the sort of problem my friend ran into and something that is far more common than those who have never had the displeasure of dealing with the INS realize.
Immigration regulations (Score:2)
The problem with this change is it makes almost any non-citizen who is present in the US on al
Re:Immigration regulations (Score:2)
No, it does not. It makes any one who is here *illegally* a felon. And most of those people *entered* the country illegally. Most noncitizens in the U.S. who are here on "almost any sort of visa" are here *legally* and are, thus, not felons under this bill.
The INS regulations are a mess and difficult to follow even if you have an immigration lawyer worki
Re:Immigration regulations (Score:2)
Thing is many INS screwups can lead to one being in the US in violation of immigration laws or regulations. In the case of my friend she was here past her visa expiration due to the INS taking forever to process her renewal/status change. This is why she ha
Re:Immigration regulations (Score:2)
And I addressed this up front, in the original post.
I am not defending the language of the bill. I am just saying it doesn't say what most people say it says, and certainly not what the protestors think it says. If you want to argue against what the bill actually says and means, as you are here, I am totally fine with that.
Hmm... (Score:1)
You think [straightdope.com]?
Now Playing: Sox @ Yankees 2006-05-09 (Score:2)
Red Sox have got a great chance to pull ahead with the struggling Rangers in town, meanwhile the limping Yankers have to contend with the A's...
By the way - did you see that the Other Pudge started at First Base this past week for the first time in his major league career? He even busted out a diving catch robbing a guy of
Re:Now Playing: Sox @ Yankees 2006-05-09 (Score:2)
Awesome. And Damon can't hit Wakefield. And has only one hit apart from Wakes, against the Sox, too.
By the way - did you see that the Other Pudge started at First Base this past week for the first time in his major league career? He even busted out a diving catch robbing a guy of extra bases.
Yeah. He missed a tag too, but that was on a bad throw.
I need to get
Re:Now Playing: Sox @ Yankees 2006-05-09 (Score:2)
I hope the Mariner's fans aren't as big of jerks as some Texas fans are. After watching the Tigers win a 2-1 game last year (Craig Monroe tripled in the winning run off of Cordero) a Rangers fan decided to throw his coke at me while cursing at me for rooting for the Tigers.
Missed me by a good 7 seats.
So of course, I look him in the eye and say "If that's all the better arms you guys have in Texas no wonder your ball team lost."
Security then es