Undocumented immigrants

The law the poster is referencing does not require anyone to turn any one in to the authorities. So, I guess they can keep loving Jesus and take people to the store.

 

Just curious, not arguing. Have you ever heard of sanctuary?

 

Being an illegal alien is not a crime.

 

If you report someone who is here illegally, that makes you wrathful and vindictive? Helping law enforcement officials identify those that are breaking the law is wrathful and vindictive?

This kind of thinking is what makes me ill.

 

But it is "illegal," isn't it?

 

How many illegal aliens have asked for sanctuary?

 

I don't know that I'd go that far; I'd caution about being wrathful and vindictive in how I go about reporting these folks. But the act of reporting is not, in and of itself, "wrathful and vindictive."

 

AND Paul pleaded with his owner to grant "amnesty" sans restitution.

 

This is misleading. There are laws against harboring but they are fairly limited in scope. Generally it applies to those who are trying to keep the criminal from being apprehended by law enforcement. Helping a an illegal by giving them a ride or food or any other help, as long as it is not an action which knowingly helps the evade arrest, is perfectly legal.

And a person is certainly not required to report an illegal. According to http://www.reportanillegalalien.com/ (a site dedicated to allowing people to report illegals):
"What can I do?

Be that as it may, a private citizen is not required to report someone who is in the country unlawfully, nor does the United States Immigration and Custom Enforcement (USICE) prefer it done."

 

Law is divided into two general categories, criminal and civil. Those who break a criminal law are criminals and the action is a crime. Those who break civil law are not criminals nor is their act a crime.

Immigration laws are civil laws, not criminal laws. Thus illegals are not criminals nor is their action a crime. Not in a legal sense at least. Their adjudication is a civil and administrative matter, not a criminal one.

 

World English Dictionary
crime (kraɪm) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]

— n
1. an act or omission prohibited and punished by law
2. a. unlawful acts in general: a wave of crime
b. ( as modifier ): crime wave
3. an evil act
4. informal something to be regretted: it is a crime that he died young

[C14: from Old French, from Latin crīmen verdict, accusation, crime]

_____________________________________________________________



Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: crime
Pronunciation: 'krIm
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin crimen fault, accusation, crime
1 : conduct that is prohibited and has a specific punishment (as incarceration or fine) prescribed by public law —compare DELICT, TORT
2 : an offense against public law usually excluding a petty violation —see also FELONY, MISDEMEANOR
NOTE: Crimes in the common-law tradition were originally defined primarily by judicial decision. For the most part, common-law crimes are now codified. There is a general principle “nullum crimen sine lege,” that there can be no crime without a law. A crime generally consists of both conduct, known as the actus reus, and a concurrent state of mind, known as the mens rea.
3 : criminal activity

 

Practically speaking, how are you going to know if they are illegal immigrants? Demand a birth certificate whenever you suspect? And if they, quite legitimately, refuse to show one (as would most any person, illegal or otherwise), what do you do then?

And I am curious as to why you consider them criminals when for most of our history anyone could legally come as they desired?

And what of illegal emigrants, that is, those who leave their country illegally even though they may enter our country legally? Are they criminals as well?