The US has traditionally been an immigrant nation.
For instance, “12 million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1900. During the 1870s and 1880s, the vast majority of these people were from Germany, Ireland, and England.”
This group was added to a total US population of about 55 million people in 1870 making almost one in four people an immigrant.
The US needed immigrants then and continues to gain a great deal from immigrant labor and education whether in the form of entrepreneurs, scientific researchers, graduate students, or farm and construction workers.
This welcoming and relatively lenient legal approach to immigrants (both documented and undocumented) may explain why the offenses for undocumented people are considered minor violations or in some cases misdemeanors similar to those offenses mentioned in the title of this article.
Let’s look at an important part of immigration law as an example: 8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien
Improper time or place; civil penalties: Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to enter) the United States at a time or place other than as designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil penalty of—
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or attempted entry); [for the first offense]
While such workers are subject to deportation, this is a lenient level of punishment probably because “illegal immigration” was a minor concern to authorities before it was discovered that the controversy could be used for political gain by the right wing.
It is a violation of federal immigration law to remain in the country without legal authorization, but in most cases, this violation is punishable by civil penalties, not criminal.
If the “crime” is great enough to require military intervention or the National Guard, why is the punishment so minimal? (up to 6 months incarceration and up to a $10,000 fine and potential deportation).
But one interesting part of this drama is how employers including the President who repeatedly violated the law by hiring undocumented workers are subject to criminal prosecution but are unlikely to ever face justice.
Here is the relevant portion of the law:
8 U.S. Code § 1324a - Unlawful employment of aliens
(f) Criminal penalties and injunctions for pattern or practice violations [of repeatedly employing undocumented workers]
(1) Criminal penalty
Any person or entity which engages in a pattern or practice of violations of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) shall be fined not more than $3,000 for each unauthorized alien with respect to whom such a violation occurs, imprisoned for not more than six months for the entire pattern or practice, or both, notwithstanding the provisions of any other Federal law relating to fine levels.
The pattern of ICE going after undocumented workers but ignoring the serious crime of employers attracting undocumented workers by giving them employment is indeed ironic — an example of the great injustice of a system designed to punish the weak and desperate while protecting and incentivizing often wealthy employers and citizens.
Recently fines have been moderately increased for employers and additional warnings have been given by DHS but the enforcement level against employers appears to be infinitesimal compared to the deportation and cruel treatment that undocumented workers are facing.
Try to imagine ICE entering a workplace and dramatically arresting a company’s CEO or company manager (perhaps even raiding the Bedminster Golf Course). Now that would take some imagination.
But the dislike of outsiders and minorities has been a staple of Republican politics for decades and this is a recent retelling of a fear-based story with different actors to galvanize the support of the faithful.
So far, this selective, punitive approach to “aliens” has been to the GOP’s advantage. But supporters of this latest GOP-produced bit of political theater may come to regret such support of strongman politics once they come to be labeled the “outsider” themselves and become the target of the strongman’s displeasure.
