Food for Thought – HR 7
What Does the Law Say? Title 8, USC 1323
There is a great deal of discussion about legal and illegal
immigration/workers on the political front.
One side wants new voters who are dependent upon the party, and the
other wants cheap labor for business. We,
the public, are caught between the two.
Regardless of feeling compassion and empathy for people
wanting a better life for themselves and their families, the law is the
law. Either people decide to follow the
law, or they make the decision to ignore it, and risk the consequences. Intentions, reasoning, and desperation aside;
this applies equally to those who cross the border illegally, and those people
who entice them, smuggle them, harbor them, and use them in order to circumvent
the law and take advantage of what they perceive to be “cheap labor”.
As of 1986, all US employers are required
to make sure that all employees are authorized to
work in the U.S.
Immigration
Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA)
“Public
Law 99-603 (Act of 11/6/86), was passed in order to control and deter illegal
immigration to the United States. Its major provisions stipulate legalization
of undocumented aliens who had been continuously unlawfully present since 1982,
legalization of certain agricultural workers, sanctions for
employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, and increased
enforcement at U.S. borders.”
TITLE 8 - ALIENS AND
NATIONALITY CHAPTER 12 - IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY SUBCHAPTER II -
IMMIGRATION Part VIII - General Penalty Provisions § 1323.
Unlawful bringing of aliens into United States
(a) Persons liable
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, including any
transportation company, or the owner, master, commanding officer, agent,
charterer, or consignee of any vessel or aircraft, to bring to the United States from any place
outside thereof (other than from foreign contiguous territory) any alien who does not
have a valid passport and an unexpired visa, if a visa was required under this chapter or
regulations issued thereunder.
(2) It is unlawful for an owner, agent,
master, commanding officer, person in charge, purser, or consignee of a vessel
or aircraft who is bringing an alien (except an alien crewmember) to the United
States to take any consideration to be kept or returned contingent on whether
an alien is admitted to, or ordered removed from, the United States.
D. Conley
