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The Star-Ledger
Christie: Immigrants
are not criminals
Immigrants and their
advocates today found an unlikely ally:
the top law
enforcement officer in New Jersey.
From nj.com by
csheinin on the Web, April 27, 2008
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie
surprised many at a Dover church public forum when he said sneaking into the
United States is not a criminal act.
"Being in this country without proper documentation is not a crime," Christie
told more than 60 residents and town officials. "The whole phrase of
'illegal immigrant' connotes that the person, by just being here, is committing
a crime."
Being undocumented may be a civil wrong, but it's not a criminal act, Christie
said.
"Don't let people make you believe that that's a crime that the U.S. Attorney's
Office should be doing something about," he added of entering the country
illegally. "It is not."
After touching on the usual topics of his corruption-busting career and battles
against gang violence, Christie fielded questions -- mostly on immigration
issues -- from Morris County residents and community leaders in an open forum
that at times grew heated.
The U.S. attorney had been invited by the local chapter of the Latino Leadership
Alliance of New Jersey, a statewide group formed to empower Latinos to obtain
political, economic and social equity, and hosted by the First United Methodist
Church of Dover.
While Christie told the audience it doesn't take a "genius" to see there's a
"serious immigration problem" in this country, he stressed an undocumented
immigrant is not a criminal unless that person re-enters the country after being
deported.
Rather, the state's top federal prosecutor called the problem of undocumented
immigration "an administrative matter" that U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement is supposed to address.
"If there are people out there committing crimes, they should be dealt with,"
Christie said. "If there are undocumented people running around, then
Immigration and Customs Enforcement should do their jobs."
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