The Truth About Chris Christie's Illegal Immigration Comments
I've been one of the most vocal "new media" critics of Jon Corzine's anti-taxpayer illegal immigration policies. Illegal immigration is a major socioeconomic and national security problem that requires a comprehensive solution, beginning with the securing of our national borders. However, Chris Christie is getting a lot of heat from certain circles claiming he occupies a "soft" position on the issue of illegal immigration. Their criticism stems from a comment Chris made in 2008, stating that illegal entrants into the U.S. weren't guilty of a criminal offense.
Chris's response was, at worst, extremely inartful. His enemies were all too happy to exploit those comments and make him look weak on the immigration issue heading into a Republican primary.
However, the legal point Chris tried to express was, to the best of my knowledge, legally correct. What other kind of opinion would you expect from someone speaking in their capacity as a U.S. Attorney? Here's a Star-Ledger point-by-point analysis of the subject:
Chris's response to the media flap speaks for itself:Q: Christie said immigrants in the county illegally are not automatically committing a crime by their presence. Is that true?
A: Yes. "Illegal presence" as the offense is called, is not a violation of the U.S. criminal code. A person cannot be sent to prison for being here without authorization from immigration authorities. It is, however, a violation of civil immigration laws, for which the federal government can impose civil penalties, namely deportation.
Q: But he was later asked a hypothetical question about someone sneaking across the border and said that's not a crime either. Is that true, too?
A: No. "Improper entry by an alien" as it is called, is a violation of Title 8 of the U.S. criminal code punishable by a fine of between $50 and $250 and/or a maximum of six months in jail.
It is considered difficult to prosecute because unless authorities catch someone in the act of crossing the border, it is easier to just deport them than spend the time and money needed to prove how they crossed the border. Even in border states, first-time offenders are rarely prosecuted because the court system would be inundated with millions of cases.
Q: So it's a crime to enter the country illegally, but not a crime to be here illegally. How can you do one without the other?
A: It's not hard, and millions of people have done it. People obtain legal visas to enter the U.S. for work, study or tourism and then simply remain in the coun try after the visa expires. Of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States, studies show about 40 percent to 50 percent came here legally but are now illegal immigrants.
".. Christie said that while entering the country illegally is considered a federal misdemeanor, simply lacking legal immigration status is a civil violation.
'I can only enforce the laws that they give me,' Christie said at the forum sponsored by the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey and the First United Methodist Church of Dover."
Should Chris have used his position as a U.S. Attorney to argue for stronger penalties? Law enforcement officials have to enforce laws all the time that they don't like or agree with. If I were in his shoes, I would've taken the opportunity to explain how the structure of our U.S. justice system ties the hands of law enforcement officials.
The truth is that the criminal law segregates offenses into a variety of categories. There are criminal and quasi-criminal offenses. Within these distinctions are felonies, misdemeanors, and numerous subcategories of public violations. It's not just lawyer mumbo-jumbo: these differences matter. You wouldn't want a prosecutor lumping your jaywalking ticket in the same category as a homicide, would you?
This country needs to address illegal immigration. Both parties have dropped the ball, going all the way back through the administrations of several U.S. presidents of every ideological persuasion. No one is innocent up there on Capitol Hill. President Bush should at least get credit for tackling the issue head-on. At the same time, it's not really useful to blame Chris Christie for our federal government's inability to address illegal immigration. We're a nation of laws if nothing else, and our elected officials have let us down- big time. Let's hope our national Republican leadership can move the debate in a more productive direction in 2010.
Once again, the spin begins. The fact is, crossing the border without authorization is a crime. The statute reads: “Any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers . . . shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.”
That law is pretty simple, and does not require a lot of legal thinking. Christie has always been slacking on illegal immigrants, even though New Jersey has over one half million of them living here! That means at least 6% of our population is not suppose to be in our state. All we hear about is how companies should be punished for hiring illegal immigrants, when the lawyer who is in charge of enforcing federal laws won't enforce laws regarding the same illegal immigrants. The question one should ask here is, why wasn't Christie doing the full job of US Attorney for New Jersey", instead of selective prosecutions.
Christie is promising everyone that he will carry out 53 "fixes" for New Jersey, but if he gets to Trenton, will he only carry out the ones he feels like doing? It would seem to be a fair question to ask a person who's whole campaign is based on his tenure as the US Attorney for New Jersey.
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and Corzine's worst nightmare!
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You're too dense to understand this. Did you graduate 5th grade, Richard?
"Enter" is different from "being in". It's not "criminal" to be here illegally. It's criminal to enter illegally. Both are punishable, but only one is a crime. The other is a lesser offense.
God help this country with fools likes you populating the planet. We need to have you neutered before you breed.
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Exit nine, is 9 your IQ? How would one be in this country, if they did not enter it, unless they where born here? If they then entered illegally, they committed a crime. They then are here illegally, since they entered illegally. It ain't rocket science, but even a poster child for planned parenthood, like yourself, should understand that!
Now, as far as a crime. You say one is a crime, and one is a lesser offense. What is the lesser offense? If you break the law, you have broken the law. It might be a misdemeanor or a felony, but you still have broken the law. If you break the law, it is a crime.
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and the only candidate who can SAVE JERSEY!
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In most civilized societies, Richard, you need EVIDENCE to convict someone of a crime. Unless you can prove an offense beyond a reasonable doubt, you can't lock them up.
I would vote to suspend those rules in your case. You're mentally handicapped beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Wow, what an observation! Finally you have said something that is correct, you do need evidence to convict someone of a crime. So, what is your point? If a person does not have the documents to prove they are either citizens of the United States, or "legal immigrants" what other evidence do you need?
Being the poster child for Planned Parenthood, I can understand that this concept might be hard for you to understand 9, but sleep on it and you might have a better understanding in the morning. But until then, just remember;
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and still the only candidate who can SAVE JERSEY!
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Richard,
If you actually read the commentary posted by Matt you would see that many people that are here illegally now, once entered the country LEGALLY (through the use of different visas, etc.)
FACTS, the cure for hyperactive Lonegan flunkies.
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When a person enters a country on a visa, they have entered into a contract. They have agreed to leave after a certain time period. If they leave at that time, they have entered the country legally. If they do not leave after that certain time period, they have entered the country ILLEGALLY, because they did not honor their contract with the United States.
The problem you Christie defenders have, is that you cannot defend his position at all. Christie screwed up when he said what he said! You can try and spin this anyway you want, and all you are going to do is get dizzy, which seems to be a constant state of mind with most of his supporters.
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and still the only candidate who can SAVE JERSEY!
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Richard,
I am not a lawyer and don't think you are, so why get into the tit-for-tat about the law and contracts, etc?
The bottom line is that there are people who are here ILLEGALLY, but entered LEGALLY.
PS: Christie never hired illegal immigrants to do his campaign work and then cry that the police were racial profiling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/nyregion/16immig.html?_r=1&fta=y
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First off, having done international travel for over 25 years, I am very well aware of visas and being in a country legally and illegally. I know what a visa means and the requirements that have to be met. Christie is spinning on this one and he knows it.
Do you really want to go on the illegal immigrants? Do you really know that Christie has never used the services of an illegal immigrant? Maybe for cutting his lawn? How about working on his house? Cleaning the his house? I am sure, someone, somewhere has that information.
As far as Lonegan's having hired a few day laborers. Save Jersey prides itself, rightfully so by the way, as the blog that is trying to get beat Corzine. Well, they might dream of beating him, but Lonegan has already beaten him, and he used those day laborers to do it!
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and the only person who has beaten Corzine already!
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Don't let him get to you, exit_nine. It's not that he doesn't get it, he's just refuses to get it. The funny part about his supposed outrage is that it's beyond hypocritical. Chris Christie did his job. He enforced the laws on the books. Doing anything more would've been overstepping his bounds. Meanwhile, whenever a state or the US Supreme Court oversteps their bounds and legislates from the bench, people like Richard would be among the the first to protest and he would be right in doing so. Like Lonegan however, Richard doesn't care about what's right unless it's convenient. All they care about is telling half truths and outright lies to further their agenda. Perhaps Richard feels that Lonegan trying to make English the official language of Bogota makes him more qualified to interpret immigration law than a former Attorney General. No matter how much you try to explain this over and over, he's not going to care. He, like Lonegan knows the truth. Also like Lonegan, he just doesn't care. He's willfully given in to a mob mentality.
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Hey Dino and 9, you can hide your head in the sand, but the truth of the matter is that Christie did not do his job in regards to illegal immigration. With over 500,000 illegals in New Jersey, his record of prosecuting illegals was 13 in five years. The laws were on the books, he just chose to ignore the ones he did not like. But, when the real truth comes concerning Christie, the spin job comes. If you need to get an update on this, just check out Lou Dobbs report on Christie. Let him spin himself out of this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9jk7xbRuSk
As far as English being the official language of Bogota, it should the official of Bogota, and New Jersey and the United States. But no, not in New Jersey! The liberals, and now the RINOs think that any language should go! Hell, DMV offers the written driving test in something like 30 languages. And who pays for all of this? You got it, the taxpayers of New Jersey.
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and still the only candidate who can SAVE JERSEY!
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Lou Dobbs is a bigot, an egotist and an empty suit who preaches a gospel of populism while worshipping at the altar of consumerism and sound bites.
Moreover, to make a broad statement about the use of English as the official language of the United States ignores the incredible cost such an endeavor would take.
As conservatives, we preach practicality and slow, incremental change as a consistent ethos. To simply want to remove over 500,000 people from society is an idea neither conservative nor realistic.
Richard, you just don't get it. You're William Jennings Bryant in libertarian drag. If you want your cross of gold, you can hop right up on top of it, but don't bring us along with you.
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Well, you have your opinion of Lou Dobbs and I have mine. As far as I am concerned, he is a Great American and one of the few people in the main stream media who really gets it.
Except for a few countries (Canada, Switzerland come to mind), only one language is recognized for governmental business. Do you think Germany would allow Spanish to be used in governmental proceedings? How about Sweden allowing Arabic in their courts? No, the idea of having a single, national language is not just good common sense, but would also work as a joiner not a divider like the mess we have now.
Conservatives preach slow, incremental change as a consistent ethos? I don't know about the conservative ideas you are following, but that sure sounds more like a "progressive" philosophy, not conservative. No, the problem is that 500,000 illegal immigrants amounts to an invasion of the New Jersey. Hell, when we went into Iraq, it was with only 150,000 or so persons.
Over six percent of the population of New Jersey are not suppose to be here! How would their removal effect the problems we now have with our budget? But, if you do not start addressing the problem, the problem will only get worse, not better. Of course, with Christie, we know he will not do anything, he has already proved that point!
Steve Lonegan, the Cure for the RINO Virus, and still the only person who can SAVE JERSEY!
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What are we doing about all the illegals working at convenience stores like 7-Eleven? What is Corzine doing about illegals working at 7-Elevens and other such stores? They are taking jobs away from Americans and the franchisees are not paying their fair share of taxes this way.
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You made some good points there.I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.Thanks
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Most of the immigrates use the credit cards for using the international business in different countries.
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