Non-Criminal “Violator” or Felon? What’s in a Word? Sometimes, Everything

By Nicholas Stix
February 19, 2009
VDARE

An unsigned news item running all of 111 words provides a lesson in the world of open borders propaganda, in which any given word may be a tactical opportunity.

Customs officers in Hidalgo found a fugitive wanted on a child-molestation charge hidden in a commercial bus heading for Mexico, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said Monday.

Domingo Vazquez Rodriguez, 29, of Saltillo, Mexico …

Officers who found him used fingerprints and photo records under the US-Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program to identify him as a fugitive wanted by Edinburg police, CBP spokesman Felix Garza said.

Records showed Vazquez Rodriguez had been deported in 2007. He will be turned over to police after adjudication for the immigration violation.

[“Fugitive found hidden on bus to Mexico,” San Antonio Express-News, February 10, 2009.]

Coming to America on a legal visa, and overstaying that visa is a non-criminal “violation.” Crossing the border illegally, i.e., without a visa and at an unauthorized border point, is a crime, but only a misdemeanor. Illegally re-entering America after one has already been deported, is a felony. Thus, it is an immigration felony, for which Domingo Vazquez Rodriguez is to be adjudicated. Whether he is properly adjudicated in either the immigration felony or child molestation felony case may be another matter entirely, but it was not the place of the Express News’ anonymous, alleged reporter to usurp the prerogative of Congress in passing and repealing laws.