I have a quick question, and while this isn't going to meet the definition of a "substantive diary", I am hoping to carve out an "education exception" to the rule.
I am an adjunct professor, teaching intro law classes at a local college. I am not an immigration lawyer; however, I have worked as a criminal lawyer for some time, and therefore have gained some knowledge in the field.
Because of the recent legislation, I have gotten a lot of questions about the Arizona law. Even though it doesn't strictly fit the topics I am teaching this semester, I encourage these kinds of questions and I am willing to shift the lesson plan as needed. I went through what I feel is a pretty good summary of the Constitutional issues with regards to the possibility of stopping individuals for reasonable cause to believe that they are in the country illegally (summary- if I was the lawyer advising the local police departments, I would tell them not to even think about trying to enforce this law on anyone who wasn't already in custody for something else).
The second issue I dealt with was the conflict between federal and state law, and how that is generally resolved. However, I may have messed up on what the federal law actually is, which is where I am hoping to get some assistance from the Kos community. My understanding always was that their was no criminal sanctions for being in this country illegally. I understand the civil side of it, and I am aware of some related criminal statutes, such as penalties for illegal re-entry following deportation (I've seen that on rap sheets quite a bit) and that there is a misdemeanor for failure to have your green card with you- but are there actually criminal penalties (jail) that you can be SENTENCED to for being in the country illegally (as opposed to being detained pending deportation).
Any assistance would be very welcome. I have no problem admitting when I am wrong to my students, but I'd like to correct any bad information I gave out as soon as possible.