Let us reflect for a moment on the whole principle of prosecuting illegal immigrants. Wouldn’t this be considered the ultimate in oxymorons? Isn’t the whole premise of prosecution in general terms, an attempt to get restitution from a criminal actor? Whether they pay the debt to society through a term of incarceration or public service or the form of a fine imposed on the convicted person. So I ask this; how do you suppose arresting and charging someone who has attempted to enter the country illegally, and prosecuting them, are we as Americans getting restitution for the crime of those who actually go through the process?
Are these people being tracked and their wages garnished when and if they are gainfully employed? Will putting them into an already overburdened prison system at an expense to taxpaying Americans somehow be misconstrued into a debt paid rather than burden to society? There is no debt or restitution that can be obtained from those who attempt to enter our country illegally, period. The only reasonable course of action is to temporarily detain these people until enough of them for instance, from any particular country, can be transported back to their country of origin in the most cost effective manner possible.
In other words, when let’s say fifty people from Guatemala are detained, or can fill the seats on an aircraft, or other transport, they are deported back to that given country. After these repeat offenders make the arduous journey a few times resulting in their ultimate return to their country of origin, they will get the message. Applying the principle of prosecution is the epitome definition of “squeezing water from a stone”.
Though daunting, the process of transporting as a means of deportation is far less expensive, and far more humane than long terms of incarceration, while the wheels of American justice turn their course, and ultimately result in the offender entering the country illegally anyway. We are a country of laws, but when the offense is essentially trespass, what can be gained through the criminal justice process?