Illegal immigrants have tendency to break laws

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3295901
Conor Fridersdorf, Staff Writer

Columnist Peggy Noonan wrote a superb essay this week that articulated why many Americans are deeply troubled by illegal immigration. Her thoughts, published by the Wall Street Journal, are worth considering at length.
"What does it mean that your first act on entering a country - your first act on that soil - is the breaking of that country's laws?" Noonan asks. "What does it suggest to you when that country does nothing about your lawbreaking because it cannot, or chooses not to? What does that tell you? Will that make you a better future citizen, or worse? More respecting of the rule of law in your new home, or less?"

She goes on: "If you assume or come to believe that that nation will not enforce its own laws for reasons that are essentially cynical, that have to do with the needs of big business or the needs of politicians, will that assumption or belief make you more or less likely to be moved by that country, proud of that country, eager to ally yourself with it emotionally, psychologically and spiritually?"

In the essay, Noonan's questions are rhetorical, but I'd like to answer them. Among immigrants whose first act upon entering the country is unlawful, I believe there will be a general decline in the rule of law.

Why?

We follow laws for three reasons. One is fear of punishment. Another is respect for the law's content: We don't murder because we know it's wrong, not because the legislature says we can't.

The third reason is a respect for the rule of law. I may think it's perfectly moral to run a stop sign in the middle of the night on an empty road, and I may not fear getting caught. Nevertheless I will stop at the sign because I believe that laws generally ought to be followed and I am in the habit of doing so.

Illegal immigrants still have personal values that keep them from becoming career criminals. And they still fear the repercussions of illegal behavior. But after breaking the law to enter our country, to work here and to remain here, how could they keep their respect for the rule of law intact? A slippery slope is at work and it applies to all of us.

Once we begin habitually running stop signs on empty roads it becomes a little bit less automatic to come to a complete stop during light traffic. It becomes less automatic to obey "No U Turn" signs or avoid crossing double yellow lines or to drive the speed limit.

And mustn't it work the same way for illegal immigrants?

Illegal entry, a rather unique law to break, is probably insufficient to change their habits with regard to the law. Yet, once here, illegal immigrants must break the law routinely. They acquire false documents illegally, get jobs illegally and stay here illegally. Mustn't this habit prove destructive over time?

If I am right, illegal immigration - by creating a subculture in which flouting the law is a consistent necessity for survival - undermines the rule of law in the United States in deeply destructive ways.

This is doubly true when you consider that illegal immigrants aren't the only ones pulled onto a slippery slope by their illegal entry. Citizens break the law to hire these illegal immigrants, to provide their fake documentation, etc.

It is tempting to say, "Yes, I break traffic laws now and then, but it hasn't gotten out of hand. I'm still a safe driver in general. Why shouldn't illegal immigrants be able to break the law when necessary without ever reaching the equivalent of blowing through a red light during rush hour?"

The answer is this: Some humans need laws to check their behavior more than others. If you and I, dear reader, lived in a society without murder laws, we'd never kill anyone, but other people would certainly murder a lot more. If we lived in a society where traffic rules weren't enforced, you and I might remain relatively safe drivers, but a percentage of the population would slip into dangerous habits. We all consent to being ticketed when we break traffic laws to guard against that.

I submit the same thing is true of illegal immigrants: Most who routinely break the law to survive will nevertheless remain generally upstanding. But some will find that once they've broken the law enough times, they lose respect for its place in society and they begin to commit offenses.