Reply from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver concerning Orphan WorksActof 2008

[Chuck]

Leo Mauler wrote:

> 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.
> 

I really don't give a damn if some laws created by a government with no 
legitimacy criminalizes a class of people for existing in the wrong 
place. They didn't have any say in the creation of those laws and 
neither did I. We need to get rid of the laws relating to "immigration" 
and "citizenship." Get rid of all passports, driver licenses and so on. 
People should be treated as human beings and their freedoms should be 
celebrated, not controlled or penalized.

I just can't believe that we still have this anachronistic crap in the 
21st century. All of this crap was developed in the early 20th century, 
so it's long overdue for being abolished.

> There's just no getting around the fact that until a law is repealed, the activity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.
> 

It's ridiculous to compare dangerous behavior to somebody who is 
"violating" the law because they are existing in the "wrong" place. Your 
  argument is a classic example of why the debate over immigration is so 
stupid. People who oppose "illegal immigration" say they oppose it 
because "people are breaking the laws." Yes, some of these people are 
idiots who actually think that people should obey all laws, but much of 
this is a coded way to avoid the racist basis for opposition to 
"illegal" immigration. When people complain about "illegal" immigrants 
breaking the law, they are always talking about brown-skinned people 
from Mexico and Latin America. They aren't equally focused on the 
millions of people from elsewhere who are "illegal" in the United States.

Again, how is somebody "illegal" status as a citizen comparable to a 
celebrity endangering people with aggressive driving? How many 
bystanders have been killed by somebody's "illegal" status?

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

People have the right to break unjust laws and that's what many people 
are doing, including folks who are aiding and assisting "illegal" 
people. I would go further and advocate the elimination of laws and 
government. That's the anarchist argument.

Chuck