Texas begins jailing border crossers on trespassing charges

[JustGeorge]

You think that's a bug or a feature?

At this point, I find it hard to believe its a bug.

 

[Kooky]

In short: incentive.
And there is enough incentive to try it illegally over going the legal route.
Make it illegal to work without permit and enforce that against immigrants and employers, make it easy to get a permit, et voila, your illegal immigration "problem" is solved. But that is not the goal, is it?

I would venture the guess that the European illegal immigration "problem" wasn't solved with increased penalties to working without permit, but with admitting their countries of origin into the European Union, therefore legalizing potential migrants' freedom of movement and making them largely the equals of native born citizens in terms of labor laws. (Of course, they still face frequent exploitation at the hands of their employers, but so do the native born.)

 

[Heyo]

I would venture the guess that the European illegal immigration "problem" wasn't solved with increased penalties to working without permit, but with admitting their countries of origin into the European Union, therefore legalizing potential migrants' freedom of movement and making them largely the equals of native born citizens in terms of labor laws. (Of course, they still face frequent exploitation at the hands of their employers, but so do the native born.)

Not speaking for all of Europe but Germany never had an illegal immigration problem. (We have a xenophobia problem, though.) Being illegal in Germany is tough. Asking for asylum is easy.

 

[Revoltingest]

In short: incentive.
And there is enough incentive to try it illegally over going the legal route.
Make it illegal to work without permit and enforce that against immigrants and employers, make it easy to get a permit, et voila, your illegal immigration "problem" is solved. But that is not the goal, is it?

It's already illegal to hire them. And yet, enforcement isn't
doing the job. Boosting enforcement would face the same
problem that prostitution does, ie, that desire is compelling
enuf that it will continue. I'd prefer that it be easier to
legally work, with better monitoring being the enforcemnet.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

If the fed gov took border security seriously,
then TX wouldn't have to. At least they're
stepping up.

I do agree the fed needs to step it up and walk into the 21st century with boarder patrol.

I get that you don't like Texas.
But they have the problem.
The feds won't fix it.
So Texicans by default must.

Disinterested was still the wrong word there.

 

[Revoltingest]

I do agree the fed needs to step it up and walk into the 21st century with boarder patrol.

Disinterested was still the wrong word there.

Meh...

 

[Kooky]

Asking for asylum is easy.

Actually getting it is not, of course. And there are few ways for a non-wealthy non-European to legally migrate.
I remember a few years ago reading an article about a foreign student - I can't remember exactly where from, only that she was South Asian - being deported to her home country after graduation - despite having lived and worked in Germany for a few years - because she didn't earn enough money in her job and no longer qualified for a student's visa.

The German state, by my impression, doesn't like migrants who aren't millionaires, and it tends to reserve a special kind of bureaucratic hostility for poor people from outside Europe.

That said, the simple fact that a substantial portion of migration into Germany comes from the EU puts it heads and shoulders above a lot of other countries in terms of treating the majority of its migrants as human beings with basic human rights.

 

[Heyo]

Actually getting it is not, of course. And there are few ways for a non-wealthy non-European to legally migrate.
I remember a few years ago reading an article about a foreign student - I can't remember exactly where from, only that she was South Asian - being deported to her home country after graduation - despite having lived and worked in Germany for a few years - because she didn't earn enough money in her job and no longer qualified for a student's visa.

The German state, by my impression, doesn't like migrants who aren't millionaires, and it tends to reserve a special kind of bureaucratic hostility for poor people from outside Europe.

That said, the simple fact that a substantial portion of migration into Germany comes from the EU puts it heads and shoulders above a lot of other countries in terms of treating the majority of its migrants as human beings with basic human rights.

We have to discern between asylum and immigration (an EU citizens). EU citizens are free to travel all over the EU and to live in any EU country. In some countries they get voting right for local elections up to state level. Asylum is a human right and Germany takes it serious. When you're persecuted in your country for political or religious reasons, you have a right to asylum (when you have entered Germany legally). And here comes the hook: you can't enter Germany legally from an other EU country to apply for asylum. You have to apply for asylum where you first entered the EU. This is EU law/treaty. And while Germany has no cap on asylum seekers, other EU countries have. It's complicated.
Immigration is comparably harder than asylum but not harder than into countries with a similar status. Having a high qualification (preferably in the medical field) and a secure job or money helps.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Being an illegal immigrant is a crime. Trespassing is a crime. That's how borders work.

Crossing a national border somewhere other than an official border crossing is not a crime in and of itself.

 

[Kooky]

Immigration is comparably harder than asylum but not harder than into countries with a similar status. Having a high qualification (preferably in the medical field) and a secure job or money helps.

Or, if we frame it in less rosy rhetoric - poor people from outside Europe have no realistic hope of migrating legally, unless they can apply for asylum.

 

[Heyo]

Or, if we frame it in less rosy rhetoric - poor people from outside Europe have no realistic hope of migrating legally, unless they can apply for asylum.

Make that poor uneducated people (but that often goes hand in hand).

 

[Kooky]

Crossing a national border somewhere other than an official border crossing is not a crime in and of itself.

It can be if the polity chooses to make it one. Which is why I find the performative outrage on display so ridiculous.
Whether this is considered "trespassing" or not is essentially an arbitrary decision made by the bureaucracy in charge, and seems to have very little, if anything, to do with any factual damages suffered by factually existing citizens.

 

[Kooky]

Make that poor uneducated people (but that often goes hand in hand).

You're still out of luck if you have the 'wrong' education (i.e. not engineering or any other high-demand field). And even if people have the 'correct' qualifications, they may still face deportation within a few years if they can't land a high paying job.

The system is effectively set up to make it as hard as possible to actually get into the country, while giving German companies maximum leverage on their migrant employees within the boundaries of existing legislation.