Posted on 04/27/2008 8:56:09 PM PDT by Eric Blair 2084
Immigrants and their advocates today found an unlikely ally: the top law enforcement officer in New Jersey.
"Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime," Christie told more than 60 residents and town officials. "The whole phrase of 'illegal immigrant' connotes that the person, by just being here, is committing a crime."
Being undocumented may be a civil wrong, but it's not a criminal act, Christie said.
"Don't let people make you believe that that's a crime that the U.S. Attorney's Office should be doing something about," he added of entering the country illegally. "It is not."
After touching on the usual topics of his corruption-busting career and battles against gang violence, Christie fielded questions -- mostly on immigration issues -- from Morris County residents and community leaders in an open forum that at times grew heated.
The U.S. attorney had been invited by the local chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, a statewide group formed to empower Latinos to obtain political, economic and social equity, and hosted by the First United Methodist Church of Dover.
While Christie told the audience it doesn't take a "genius" to see there's a "serious immigration problem" in this country, he stressed an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal unless that person re-enters the country after being deported.
Rather, the state's top federal prosecutor called the problem of undocumented immigration "an administrative matter" that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to address.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
For the uninitiated fortunate and smart fellow Americans and Freepers who don't live in the Democratic People's Republic of New Jersey, I'll offer a little bit of background...
Christie is a hero in the DPRNJ for putting 125 leftist politicians behind bars.
Excuse me, but WTF is this guy?
He’s the top federal US law enforcement official in these parts.
Is this azzhat retarded?
They are.
I’m betting Mr. Christie hasn’t had the good fortune of being audiologically raped on a daily basis at all hours of the day by criminal illegals living 20 feet away.
What part of illegal does this idiot not get?
What is the definition of “criminal”? Someone who breaks the law. What do you call someone who enters this country in violation of the law?
Why is this incompetent in the US Attorney’s office?
I think so too , unless US code title 8 chapter 12 section 1325 has been repealed .
So, can’t these “uninvited visitors” sue the Border Patrol for false arrest?
That’s my thought exactly. Let the illegals live next door to the politicians, send them to their kids’ schools. Maybe this jerk would like to shelter a few in his home??
FYI...what makes this really scary if that he is a Republican who sent every crooked politician he could find to jail....just so happened that they all happened to be Dems since they control this cesspool and there is no point bribing legislators with R’s next to their name since they are impotent.
He got a lot of heat for hiring John Ashcroft and his firm for a public project. The leftists are trying to take him down.
I’m beginning to wonder if he doesn’t employ one (or more) to mow his grass or clean his toilets.
“Any alien who
(1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or
(2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or
(3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.”
Sounds like a criminal statute to me.
“He’s the top federal US law enforcement official in these parts.”
Gee, I feel so much more confident about it now.
Paging Michael Mukasey.
The question is whether the statement he made is factual or if it is not. I have grave concerns about a U.S. Attorney who would blatantly disregard the law on perhaps the singlemost important issue in this country right now.
True to a point. A reentry after a deportation, which is very common, does raise this to a criminal status. The other really big problem is the number of illegals using stolen or fake ID.
I kind of doubt this feller would give me a pass for using stolen or fake ID.
I couldn’t even start up a blog with all the stuff I want to say, and how it should be said.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_J._Christie
He should be fired immiediately. This is an outrage.
As further background, he raised eyebrows of congressional democrats his involvement with a defered prosecution agreement with a medical device company that employed Ashcroft to serve as its outside monitor to assure compliance with the agreement. Ashcroft had to testify about it recently.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080226/us_attorneys_oversight.html?.v=1
http://politickernj.com/tags/christopher-christie
“Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime,”
WTF
“He got a lot of heat for hiring John Ashcroft and his firm for a public project. The leftists are trying to take him down.”
It wasn’t a public project. It was an agreement between a private company and the government to settle charges against the company. There is no reason they’re should’ve been a public bidding process, but it was poorly handled b/c the perception of inappropriate conduct is clear.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080226/us_attorneys_oversight.html?.v=1
http://politickernj.com/tags/christopher-christie
If I were to rob a bank, would the news media report that I was making an “unauthorized withdrawl?”
If someone breaks into your house, are they “uninvited house guests?”
Of course they're not.
In the eyes of the Jorge Bush administration Border Patrol agents are the criminals.
I think you answered your question.
Because they’re incompetent
The die was cast when we first let the gov't and LEO decide which laws they would enforce and which ones they wouldn't.
Wrong. See post 14. Entering this Country without following the law is a crime, even the first time. The second time it is not just a crime, it's a felony. To paraphrase Patton, this guy knows no more about law enforcement than he does about fornication. What an embarrassment to N.J. and to the Country.
Wasn’t sure about 1st time, but I seemed to remember the 2cnd was a felony. THX
The only thing I can figure is that someone who enters the country legally, but overstays his visa, is not committing a criminal offense.
Or, that a person who obtains work in the USA, but makes no false or fraudulent claims to do so, is not a criminal.
Look, if you’re a foreign national, you have to have a visa to enter the U.S. or be a member of a protected refugee group. All of these have restrictions regarding employment or where you live or how long you can stay or what you have to do if you move from one place to another. If you violate those restrictions, you violate immigration law. If you’re a refugee here on an I-94 with full employment rights, you still have to notify Homeland Security of your new address within two weeks of moving. If you don’t, you’re subject to fines and/or deportment. If someone comes on a tourist visa and then bugs out and find employment, he’s an illegal alien. If he slips across the border and someone gives him work, he’s an illegal alien. If someone comes on a student visa and then gets a job, he violates his visa and is another type of illegal alien.
Entering this country without notifying immigration is a criminal act, and you can be jailed and fined for it. This US Attorney is differentiating a civil crime from one that requires a grand jury to prosecute. If you get a minor speeding or vehicle equipment ticket, fail to shovel your walkway after a snow, or, in some states, get caught with a small amount of pot, you are given a ticket. That is what he is calling a civil crime. He’s just trying to make illegal entry sound less of a problem than it is.
Have you ever heard of prozac? Ask your doctor about it.
He and Johnny Sutton need to find work in the private sector.
Bin ladin agrees.
I'm touched. No, really, touched.
However my position stands. By coming here outside proper channels and without documentation, these people are indeed criminals and should be treated as such. Rounded up, divested of illegally gotten goods and money and then repatriated to their homelands whether their governments want them back or not.
I do tend to get a bit passionate when my home is being over run by criminals, it's a quirk, I know. Call it racism, nativism, or whatever demeaning slur you want, I call it knowing right from wrong and acting accordingly.
More Americans killed by illegal aliens than Iraq war, study says
When you start digging into the numbers the only ones that can be sourced with the feds are the number of American murdered in 2005: 16692
I have seen federal numbers for illegals held in jail ranging from 19.3% to 27% of the federal prison population.
Here's a sampling of USA cities wanted for murder. What you'll see is that in big USA cities like LA or NYC most of the murderers are Hispanic. Unknown are the % of illegals. In smaller cities the FBI will post the nationalities of the murderers. About 25% of the most wanted are illegals wanted for murder. This number agrees with the percentage of illegals incarcerated in federal prisons. +-25%Pictures of top 10 most wanted in LA. Up until recent stories about crime in LA posted by the LA Times--the pictures included the nationality of the murderers. They were all foreign nationals and mostly Mexican.
Wanted for Murder in New York City.
Chicago wanted for Murder
Philadelphia wanted for murder
San Francisco wanted for Murder
New Orleans wanted for Murder
Pictures of suspects wanted for murder in Washington DC
FBI USA 10 most wanted. (two of 10 are Mexican nationals) Around 40% of the FBI's wanted for murder are Mexican Nationals
There are currently no exact numbers on the number of Americans killed by illegals. Part of the reason is that the government deliberately obscures the number. I talked on the phone with the head of statistics for the US Bureau of Prisons. He said his office wasn't allowed to publish the number of illegal alien murderers. Rather they were forced to put legal and non legal residents in the same category. I talked to ICE. They put out detailed numbers on illegal child molestors. However, they put out nothing on illegal murderers.
Part of the reason for the silence on the matter is that there is evidence to suggest that most Americans being killed by illegals are black--as is the suggestion in this LA Times Article. Also this article from the LA Times. And here. This makes intuitive sense. We see stories regularly of drug gang killings in Mexico but we don't see those same stories in the USA. The reason we don't see those stories is not because its not happening. Rather we don't see the stories about illegals killing blacks because that kind of story is terribly politically incorrect. The populations being displaced in downtown sanctuary cities especially are American blacks. That means that their criminal elements would be pushed aside by Mexican gangs as well. That's also the story that the wanted for murder posters in all the major cities seems to suggest.
Nevertheless, the pattern of non reporting is starting to break. Discovery Channel has a series called Gangland that mentions ethnic cleasing of blacks by Mexican gangs
Reported Foreign Nationals on Death Row in the U.S.
To look at other USA cities go here http://stlouis.fbi.gov/ and replace stlouis with the city you want.
All that said the true number of criminal aliens is far higher than is revealed by criminal aliens in prisons. Most are simply waived through the courts.DHS Secretary Chertoff, has been quoted as warning that two million people in this country illegally have committed serious crimes. See also here and here Here is more info from Judicial Watch.
However the number of illegals on death row is far lower.
How about Burglary? Those are not crimes, right?
I swear, with the OUTRIGHT THEFT that ILLEGAL ALIENS are committing of my taxpayer dollars via welfare and other social programs, they may as well make all forms of theft legal.
“Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime,”
WRONG !
Christie is usually a good man ..what happened to him ?
The world’s gone mad.
Talk about being stuck on stupid! This idiot is the top federal lawman in New Jersey! He is a big part of the reason we’re in the situation we are in now. Failure to enforce the law for so long has morphed itself into an out and out denial that the law even exists!
Over-staying a properly obtained visa would seem to avoid the scope of the provisions of the law that you cited and so seems not to be criminal but rather an administrative infraction of rules. However sneaking into the country with no valid visa would seem to be criminal. DO ANY OTHER LAWS APPLY???
"Being in a Bank's Vault without proper documentation is not a crime," Christie told more than 60 residents and town officials. "The whole phrase of 'Bank Robber' connotes that the person, by just being there, is committing a crime."Rather, the state's top federal prosecutor called the problem of undocumented bank withdrawals "an administrative matter"...
Moron.
I’m not sure, I’ll look into it.
But his statement, “”Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime,” is wrong. For some (perhaps the example you pointed out) it may not be, but for others it is a crime, so this statement is wrong.
I think it was Hillary who said to a woman who identified herself as an illegal, that no person is an illegal.
Sure, there are some exceptions, but this statement, “Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime,” is wrong. There may be some to whom this statement applies, but to others it does not, and for a person who supposed to enforce this statute to say this is ridiculous and he should be dealt with accordingly.
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