The discussion is on religious leaders, including evangelicals, forming a front for a more "compassionate" treatment of illegal aliens:
http://townhall.com/columnists/IraMehlman/2010/08/20/religious_leaders_make_a_flawed_case_for_mass_immigration
I wonder if it is reasonable to have only one consequence for violating our immigration laws. Get the state governments fully engaged. Charging felonies for being found in a state illegally from another country, and giving the states authority to assign full consequence of illegal immigration appears reasonable to me: suspended imprisonment terms and mandatory restitution to the state and federal government.
If illegal aliens cut a deal, [turn themselves in] the consequences can be bargained down to misdemeanors with mandatory restitution and suspended jail time. The bottom line either way would be to acknowledge the violation of law and exact a monetary restitution toward expenses such as immigration enforcement costs, government services, court and legal fees.
Illegals would be given court-ordered conditional visas, and jailed pending its processing through the appropriate immigration offices. It should be illegal to obtain medical or social services as an illegal alien, and fraud that adds to charges and restitution levels.
When illegals are incapable of paying for their crimes, they should be jailed and deported. It seems a shame to me that we don't have indentured servitude programs for labor-intensive alternatives to deportment in those cases, and as an added venue for opening up legal immigration.
I think forced work programs would be a great way to discourage crime. There is nothing cruel and unusual about work. Afterall, the cost of crime against the victims and all of society is huge. It only makes sense to put the burden of crime on the criminals who commit the crimes. Victims should not be left to bear the burden all by themselves. Let us have justice and deport criminal immigrants!
ReplyDelete