Define “Illegal” again
Blogger News Network is linking to What Part of ‘Illegal’ Don’t You Understand?
“Illegal” is accurate insofar as it describes a person’s immigration status. About 60 percent of the people it applies to entered the country unlawfully. The rest are those who entered legally but did not leave when they were supposed to. The statutory penalties associated with their misdeeds are not insignificant, but neither are they criminal. You get caught, you get sent home.
Since the word modifies not the crime but the whole person, it goes too far. It spreads, like a stain that cannot wash out. It leaves its target diminished as a human, a lifetime member of a presumptive criminal class. People are often surprised to learn that illegal immigrants have rights. Really? Constitutional rights? But aren’t they illegal? Of course they have rights: they have the presumption of innocence and the civil liberties that the Constitution wisely bestows on all people, not just citizens.
Good blog, good post. Go read it.
I’ve always taken issue with illegal people, illegal plants, and the like.
The immigration debate often centers around the question, “What part of illegal don’t you understand?” People who ask this question are often people who’ve exceeded the legal speed limit, done a “California stop” at some point in their life, quite possibly used drugs in their past. It’s always struck me as self righteous, and I hate to wear my faith on my sleeve but also unChristian, to condemn an entire class of people for having broken a law that the condemner hasn’t personally violated. Something about a first stone comes to mind…?
That’s not to say we should just open our borders to anyone who wants to come in, plus their friends Fat Man and Little Boy.
Comment by John — November 8, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
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