Once again conservative, you are wrong on immigration

As Josh pointed out recently here on AlterNet, the rhetoric on immigration is so divorced from reality that many are up in arms about something they are simply wrong about; not a disagreement, wrong:

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Being in this country illegally is not (currently) a violation of the criminal code, it's a civil code violation like letting your car's registration lapse. It's not a felony and it's not a misdemeanor.

And here we have Michelle Malkin's site, appropriately named Hot Air, spouting off incorrectly. Here's Bryan on a Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund attorney who told a Texas border city council that their new anti-immigration measures may violate Federal Law:

Don’t illegals violate federal law by traipsing across the border? Funny how these Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund types never mention that.

Know why they never mention that? Because it's not true.

Federal Law refers to Constitutional Law, which has nothing to do with immigration. It's a violation of civil law, which isn't even something that law enforcement is currently meant to enforce.

Don Boudreaux argues:

The phrase "illegal immigrant" is a boon to xenophobes. It permits them to mask their hostility to freedom of movement, to freedom of association, and to foreigners, behind high-sounding rhetoric about the rule of law.

I concede that many people today are in the United States without Uncle Sam’s formal permission. I disagree, however, that these people are "illegal" or "criminal" in any but the most formal and empty sense of the terms.

Hot Air's Bryan, who will doubtlessly update his post with a correction note, concludes: "Got a headache yet?"

No. You? (CafeHayek, HotAir)