My understanding is the choices on this topic are as follows:
- Ignore the law and just don't enforce immigration laws, thus nobody's arrested in the first place.
- Ignore the due process part of the law, thus just deporting people summarily.
- Enforce the law as written and detain people until they get an immigration hearing.
If I'm missing an option here, please say so, and/or present the alternative I missed.
Agreed the private part is bullshit though. Private involvement in anything government-related needs HEAVY oversight, which they often don't get, leading to the abuses (especially in the prison system). Theoretically just about anything government-related could be done by private industry with sufficient oversight, but when it's been demonstrated many times over that such oversight isn't working, go back to internal employees.
To persuade the business-types in government, compare it to outsourcing. If you start getting back too many
WTFs in your stuff, you need to bring the process back to internal.
No, you're not missing anything here, though I'd think there can be some middle ground between 1 and 3, with an examination on just how useful immigration law is to begin with.
Entering the United States illegally is a criminal offense, but overstaying your visa is a civil offense.
"Improper Entry Is a Crime
To be clear, the most common crime associated with illegal immigration is likely
improper entry. Under federal criminal law, it is misdemeanor for an alien (i.e., a non-citizen) to:
- Enter or attempt to enter the United States at any time or place other than designated by immigration officers;
- Elude examination or inspection by immigration officers; or
- Attempt to enter or obtain entry to the United States by willfully concealing, falsifying, or misrepresenting material facts.
The punishment under this federal law is no more than six months of incarceration and up to $250 in civil penalties for each illegal entry. These acts of improper entry -- including the mythic "border jumping" -- are criminal acts associated with illegally immigrating to the United States.
Like all other criminal charges in the United States, improper entry must be proven
beyond a reasonable doubt in order to convict."
Unlawful Presence Is Not a Crime
Some may assume that all immigrants who are in the United States without legal status
must have committed improper entry. This simply isn't the case. Many foreign nationals legally enter the country on a valid work or travel visa, but fail to exit
before their visa expires for a variety of reasons.
But mere unlawful presence in the country is
not a crime. It is a violation of federal immigration law to remain in the country without legal authorization, but this violation is punishable by
civil penalties, not criminal. Chief among these civil penalties is
deportation or removal, where an unlawful resident may be detained and removed from the country. Unlawful presence can also have
negative consequences for a resident who may seek to gain re-entry into the United States, or permanent residency.
Both improper entry and unlawful presence should be avoided by any immigrant to the United States, but an illegal alien cannot be criminally charged or incarcerated simply for being undocumented. To learn more, check out FindLaw's section on
Immigration Law.
- See more at:
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/20...v-unlawful-presence.html#sthash.ZD4Bhvk6.dpuf
So the situation is this- We are locking up many people who we cannot prove committed a crime (border jumping).
And yes, private prisons are the worst. They create incentives for cost cutting while at the same time encourage increased incarceration of the population. It's an insane business model.
