I shouldn’t feel the need to write this, as everyone should be aware that ‘undocumented’ is not the same thing as ‘illegal’. Most of these immigrants crossed the border and applied for asylum. Because of the huge backlog of cases, they are released – legally – until their asylum hearing, which may be a year or two away. They are expected to report to Immigration Offices periodically to check in. This is the legal process.
In fact, under Biden the Congress tried to pass a law increasing the number of immigration judges and officers, in order to speed up the process, but Trump forced his GOP minions to vote it down. Trump wanted all those immigrants in the country in order to promote his anti-immigrant campaign.
So now, ICE shows up at the Immigration offices, where the legal immigrants are legally checking in, and arrests them, detains them, and prepares to ship them off to the torture camps in El Salvador or South Sudan.
Most of these legal immigrants are hard-working and have no criminal records. The very fact that they show up to check in at the Immigration Office is proof that they are legal. They are arrested anyway, and I see posts like this on Facebook:
MAGA: Good! Arrest those rapists and murderers and ship them out.
Journalists: But they haven’t committed any crime.
MAGA: They are here illegally. That’s crime enough.
Journalists: They are here legally.
The above conversation shows that one should use the word ‘undocumented’ to describe these legal immigrants. Maybe ‘asylum seeker’ would be even better. Certainly NOT ‘illegal’.
ICE also barges into workplaces and arrests anyone who cannot produce documentation. These are mostly the ‘overstay’ immigrants. They are different from asylum seekers. Here is a description of the legal status of most of the overstayers detained by ICE, from workingimmigrants.com
civil violation vs misdemeanor vs felony in immigration law enforcement
Improper presence: If ICE arrests a person who has been in the U.S. for many years without committing any misdemeanors or felonies, but cannot provide evidence of legal status, they will likely face charges of civil violation of immigration law rather than criminal charges. The person would likely be charged with being “unlawfully present” in the United States.
Therefore, even the word ‘criminal’ does not apply to these immigrants. But in these overstay cases, the word ‘undocumented’ applies.
Of course, there are many real illegals in the US, hiding under the radar. They are more difficult to find. What is starting to happen is that many legal asylum seekers are not reporting to their immigration appointments, for fear of being illegally arrested by ICE. The sad irony is that, by failing to appear, they become REAL illegals.
I should add that these masked ICE thugs usually do not have a judge-approved warrant to arrest anyone. They simply kidnap anyone they choose, call them illegals or criminals, and ‘disappear’ them. It could happen to anyone, especially anyone that Trump doesn’t like. It could happen to YOU!