Posted on Tuesday, June 17, 2025
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by Shane Harris
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0 Comments
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Violating U.S. sovereignty is apparently no more serious than forgetting to pay a parking meter – or so we’re told by progressive pundits and Democrat politicians now parroting the line that being in the United States illegally is “just a civil offense.” It’s a lie so ridiculous and transparent that it could only come from the same crowd that insists men can get pregnant.
Amid anti-ICE riots erupting in cities across the country, the activist left has gone all-in on this absurd talking point that began on cable news networks and is now spreading like wildfire on social media. In April, CNN’s Abby Phillip boldly declared, “Coming into the country illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal offense.” In March, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) went even further on MSNBC, flat-out claiming that entering the U.S. illegally is “not a crime” at all.
Now, liberal commentators and left-wing TikTok influencers are comparing illegal entry to “jaywalking” and scolding anyone who dares to disagree. As journalist Collin Rugg recently reported, “Many large creators are releasing extremely similar statements where they shame other creators for not ‘speaking out’ against the [ICE] raids.”
This narrative is not just misleading—it’s deliberately dishonest. Here are the facts.
Under 8 U.S. Code Section 1325, it is a federal misdemeanor to cross into the United States without authorization at a legal port of entry. First-time illegal entry is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine. If you’re caught, deported, and then re-enter the U.S. again without authorization, you’ve committed a felony under 8 U.S. Code Section 1326, and you can face up to two years in prison, or more if aggravating factors apply.
In other words, entering the country illegally is a crime. Entering illegally again is a serious crime. The only time a “civil violation” applies is in the case of visa overstays – when someone enters legally and then fails to leave. But the left is using this single scenario to paint all 10–15 million illegal aliens in the U.S. as victims of some harmless paperwork mishap.
It’s disingenuous, manipulative, and an insult to the millions of American immigrants who have followed the letter of the law to come here.
Even if we accept the premise that overstaying a visa is “only” a civil offense, does that somehow make it okay? Should we excuse it? Calling something a “civil offense” doesn’t mean “not illegal.” It just means it’s processed differently.
Consider other civil violations: tax fraud, sexual harassment in the workplace, failure to pay child support, violations of housing codes – all of these are classified as civil offenses in various contexts.
This is where the left’s logic completely collapses. If “it’s just a civil offense” is an acceptable moral standard, then what else should we tolerate? Identity theft? Making unwanted sexual advances at work? Should we go ahead and abolish OSHA while we’re at it?
Of course not. But for some reason, when it comes to illegal immigration, suddenly all violations are excusable, every border is imaginary, and any attempt to enforce the law is an act of oppression.
And we all see the consequences with our own eyes.
Ask the families of Americans who’ve lost loved ones to crimes committed by illegal aliens if unchecked mass migration is merely a “civil” matter. Ask border town officials dealing with drug cartels, human traffickers, and gangs that have taken root in their communities. Ask blue-collar workers whose wages have been undercut by cheap, illegal labor. Ask the parents of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student murdered last year by illegal alien Jose Ibarra.
Even some on the right might be tempted to dismiss the “civil” and “criminal” distinction as just semantics. But in truth, what the left is doing is far more dangerous. What this latest messaging campaign is really about is erasing the moral and legal clarity surrounding illegal immigration. It is about laundering lawlessness through sanitized language and normalizing something that should be entirely reprehensible to every law-abiding American.
The truth is, deportation is already a lenient punishment for illegal entry. The federal government has every right under the law to lock up those who violate our borders, especially repeat offenders. But instead of enforcing those laws, the left wants to redefine them, then shame anyone who disagrees.
In the end, this entire narrative isn’t about clarifying legal categories. It’s about advancing an open borders agenda – one that is so indefensible they’re now resorting to gaslighting the American public into thinking illegal immigration isn’t even illegal. They’re trying to “sanewash” chaos by making it sound softer, friendlier, more palatable.
This isn’t “compassion” or “justice” – it’s capitulation and betrayal. No matter how many faces the left attempts to put on their crusade to erase our borders, the American people should reject all of them outright.
Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
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