Reply from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver concerning Orphan WorksActof 2008

[Leo Mauler]

--- On Tue, 8/12/08, Chuck <chuck at mutualaid.org> wrote:

> No one is illegal! The people wrongly accused 
> of being "illegal" are more than welcome in my 
> neighborhood and city.

Much as I salute your desire to welcome people into your neighborhood and city, illegal immigrants have violated laws through their entry into this country and are thus illegal immigrants.  As opposed to legal immigrants which have entered through the legal channels of immigration.

There's just no getting around the fact that until a law is repealed, the activity prohibited by that law is an illegal activity.  Trying to pretend that the law doesn't exist, prior to its repeal, just makes you look stupid, and puts you in the same category as Paris Hilton, who several months ago drove with a suspended driver's license, at 75MPH in a 30MPH zone, and in the dark with her headlights off, all at the same time.  She, too, stupidly tried to pretend that unrepealed laws did not exist.

There's an inherent inconsistency with a statement like yours which boils down to "nice people should be allowed to break laws without punishment."