Immigration 2017

Under US law, the punishment for illegally entering the U.S. (improper entry) as a first-time immigration offender is either a fine from between $50 up to $250 or a prison sentence of up to 6 months. Repeat offenders are likely to be fined twice as much as the first attempt and may face a new prison sentence of up to 2 years.

There are also separate penalties for those who attempt to illegally re-enter the US after having being deported for certain types of crime:

  • Offenders deported for a conviction for 3 or more misdemeanors involving drugs, crimes against the person, or both, or a felony other than an aggravated felony - up to 10 years in prison or a fine

  • Offenders deported for a conviction of aggravated felony - up to 20 years in prison or a fine

  • Foreign citizens deported from the United States for security reasons - a fine and a prison sentence up to 10 years, which should not run concurrently with any other sentence.

  • Nonviolent offenders deported from the U.S. before the end of a prison sentence - a fine, jail time up to 10 years or both. The offender may be incarcerated for the remainder of their sentence without any reduction for parole or supervised release. 

"I REMIND for the last 20 years (at this time) there is a huge wave of immigrants trying to get across the border both “legally through Asylum” and illegally, over staying visa.'s. I also remind you "these are the laws in place in the last administration."

Under the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, asylum seekers must show that they have a well-founded fear of persecution due to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, and are unable or unwilling to seek protection from the authorities in their countries. 

If the United States is ever going to deal with this, we have to "help Mexico and the Northern Triangle" countries fight crime and assist in building their economies. And we must do it out of  pragmatism not out of having bleeding hearts but necessity. That being said, it is the decent and humane thing to do. This will require a deep overhaul of immigration law with acknowledgment that we are a nation of immigrants and will ever be so.