Fellow citizens, we hear a lot about our illegal immigration process in America. Well other countries also have immigration enforcement policies to protect their nations as well.
I believe that the United States must reevaluate its border strategy by looking at global precedents, where unauthorized entry faces far more definitive consequences.
While Title 8 of the U.S. Code classifies a first illegal crossing as a misdemeanor and subsequent attempts as felonies, our system relies heavily on civil deportation and reentry bans rather than strict criminal deterrence.
In my opinion, this no longer is appropriate, we are a tolerant nation; however, the goal of various groups is NOT to assimilate into our nation’s ways; but demand our country to conform to their ways.
In sharp contrast, global counterparts—including close Western allies—assert national sovereignty through rigorous, uncompromising penalties:
Western Deterrence: The UK Nationality and Borders Act criminalizes unauthorized arrival with up to four years in prison. Australia enforces uncompromising mandatory detention in offshore facilities coupled with lifetime reentry bans. Hungary mandates up to eight years of prison, while Germany and Spain leverage swift expulsion alongside devastating corporate fines on the carriers facilitating illegal transit.
Mandatory Prison Sentences: Other nations reject administrative leniency in favor of severe criminal prosecution. Pakistan enforces a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. India levies up to eight years of rigorous imprisonment, Indonesia imposes up to five years, and Russia punishes infractions with up to two years of forced labor.
Physical and Absolute Penalties: The most absolute departures from U.S. policy occur in nations utilizing physical deterrence. Malaysia and Singapore legally mandate prison time combined with three to six agonizing strokes of the cane. Meanwhile, authoritarian states like North Korea treat illegal entry as a severe national security threat, punishing it with indefinite forced labor in prison camps.
While the United States continues to tolerate a revolving-door system of civil processing, the rest of the world explicitly demonstrates that a nation without strictly enforced, punitive border laws is a nation without secure borders.
We are a Christian-Judeo nation and our culture, traditions, morals and values must be incorporated into our immigration policies or we, the American people, will lose our identity not only as a nation; but, as American citizens.
In my judgment, we can’t assume the role of accepting everyone unconditionally - illegally or legally from around the world - doing so would destroy our nation and invalidate our Constitution as the supreme law of America. America has been identified as a country of immigrants (Legal) - a “Melting Pot”; however, that can only prevail as long as assimilation is ongoing and appropriate quotas are implemented.
America First! God Bless the U.S.A.
Richard Rossi
Margaretville
