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Immigration and Security
OPINION: CRIMINALIZING THE UNDOCUMENTED
By Marisa Treviño, MATT Contributing Writer
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Crossing the border into the United States without a valid visa or border crossing card is illegal. Parking in a fire zone is illegal. However, neither of the two cases is a criminal offense.
According to immigration law experts, crossing the border illegally only becomes a criminal offense when it is a “re-entry” into the country. That means that the person had to have previously been deported and violated the terms of his/her deportation.
Yet, that little technicality escapes most people who are intent on seeing all undocumented immigrants as “criminals” and lawbreakers.
Once undocumented workers are here, the vast majority tries to live by the rules of this country. If it were not for the fact that our laws require social security numbers for employment tax purposes, chances are that most undocumented immigrants would go unnoticed or seen as violating any laws.
But increasingly, undocumented immigrants are being turned into criminals — not because of any specific act they’ve done once they’re inside our borders but because of the laws being passed in cities and states in an attempt to drive them out of the country.
According to the report, “Immigration Policy Project,” released by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 1,404 pieces of legislation regarding immigration and immigrants have been introduced among the 50 state legislatures. Of all these bills, 170 were enacted into law in 41 states.
The report documents the fact that state legislators introduced an estimated two-and-a-half-times more bills in 2007 than in 2006. Most have punitive consequences.
For example, in Arkansas certain migrant farm laborers would be in violation of a law if they defined themselves as “employees.”
Among states such as Arizona, Indiana, and Kentucky, undocumented immigrants are outlawed from receiving any kind of driver’s license or identification card.
In Oklahoma, in a “mixed” status family, it would be against the law for any spouse or children who are U.S. citizens to live with or ”harbor” a parent who is undocumented.
In Colorado, students who are U.S. citizens, meaning they were born in this country, are outlawed from receiving in-state college tuition if their parents are undocumented immigrants.
The list goes on and on.
What’s ironic is that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants want to obey the rules. For example, they want to drive with a driver’s license so that they can carry car insurance, open bank accounts, etc.
The city government of New Haven, Connecticut knew this. On July 24, the city issued every resident, regardless of citizenship, a new municipal identification card called the Elm City Resident Card.
The new ID card, which is only recognized within city limits, was originally created to allow undocumented immigrants to open bank accounts to avoid getting robbed of the large amounts of cash they carry with them.
Yet, the concept of the card evolved to the point that it will also be used as a debit and library card and a method to pay the parking meter.
If that wasn’t enough, on the same day the card became available, the city also opened the Office of New Haven Residents.
At the new office is where residents cannot only purchase the ID card but are guided to the basic information everyone needs to know when moving into a new town.
According to Jessica Mayorga, New Haven’s director of communications, the response to the ID card has been phenomenal.
“We’ve taken in over 2,300 applications. There were days we had 400-500 people in line starting as early as 4 a.m. to get their cards,” Mayorga said. “It was an amazing scene to see such a long line of people outside of City Hall, wrapped around the block waiting for the opportunity to obtain an Elm City Resident Card. Some people, on those days waited up to 10 hours but never complained. It was all very peaceful and successful.”
There’s no further proof that undocumented immigrants want to comply the best they can with the laws. The problem is they are being criminalized before they’re even given the chance.
Trevino’s opinion pieces appear frequently on MATT.org. The opinions are her own.
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