You stick a person on a boat or a plane or a train, and he is going to be an illegal immigrant. But, if he walks across the border, or crawls across a fence, he might just be legal.
Yes, the person who doesn't accept a ride across the border might just happen to be the person you can't stop. As in: you can't do anything about him. You can't deport him, and you can't kick him out.
I'm probably wrong about this. I'm hardly a lawyer, and my search on the Internet has not yet yielded as much information as I'd like.
But, yes, I'm wondering if the immigrant who walks is the immigrant who's legal. He's the one who doesn't need to ask for permission. He can say, "What do you mean I'm not legal? I didn't come in a boat or a plane or a train, did I? I didn't even come on the back of a truck -- I know a lot of us immigrants come on the backs of trucks, and I can see how you say that is illegal.
"Me? I just walked. So, how am I illegal?"
You see, when immigration law in the United States was first being established, the Commerce Clause in the Constitution was used to argue that government has the power to regulate that immigration.
It breaks down this way: If something is transported, it becomes commerce. If a person comes on a boat or a plane or a train, he is being transported -- and, is commerce. Same with all those migrants stuffed on the back of trucks.
All those immigrants are just part of our nation's commerce. And, the Constitution gives Congress the right to regulate trade and commerce with other nations and between states.
But, if a person walks, he is not being transported. He is not commerce.
So, you remember those eleven (or however many) migrants from the caravan who crawled across the fence a few days ago in San Diego and were arrested?
I'm just wondering if they were falsely arrested.
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