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Comment by FireBeyond | Hacker News Reader

Hopefully you've never gotten a speeding ticket, parking or similar. Because most of those are classified at the same misdemeanor level as "entering illegally", which would make you a criminal, too.

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Speeding and parking tickets are usually infractions, and are non-criminal. DUIs, reckless driving, fleeing the scene, and the like are criminal misdemeanors or felonies.

Illegally entering is a criminal misdemanor, so they aren't the same thing.

Unlawful presence, which is all anyone at a mall in California could be charged with, is a civil matter, not a crime.

Unless there's some international border in Sunnyvale I missed, I don't think the ALPRs will catch any illegal entry.

I wasn't arguing that. Just that illegal entry is not the same as a speeding ticket was my point. Overstaying on legal entry is civil, and just unlawful presence. I believe that's a bit less than half the population.

Unlawful presence is 100% of the offenses you'll be able to catch in a Sunnyvale mall parking lot, and it disproves the OPs contention that they are all "criminal, by definition."

You can use ALPR to track people who are known to have entered illegally or who have been sentenced to deportation and are avoiding their sentence. Illegal aliens are criminals.

I really don't think you understand the difference between unlawful presence and improper entry. One of these is a crime while the other is not. Restating your false premise at the end doesn't make it more true; unlawful presence in the U.S. is not a crime, that's a simple fact.

Crossing the border without a visa is a crime. You do not understand US law.

You're missing the point. No one will be caught entering the U.S., with or without a visa, in a Sunnyvale mall parking lot. All you will likely be able to catch is unlawful presence, which is a civil matter and not a crime.

You make a good point - we need to significantly increase the penalty for this kind of illegal immigration.

There is a big difference between overstaying a visa for a few weeks and illegal migration.

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