This is priceless.
Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, who has been serving in the Senate since 2013, did not know that illegal immigrants actually break the law when coming here illegally.
Watch:
Hirono tries to suggest that these people have only broken a law because Trump has deemed it so:
“They have broken a law only as deemed so by the President with his…”
But ICE official Matthew Albence corrects her, explaining to her that illegals are in these FRC facilities because they actually broke the law, specifically Title 8 of the US and Nationality Act.
“No ma’am. They are there for violation of Title 8 of the US and Nationality Act. USC 1325. Illegal entry is both a criminal and a civil violation. They are in those FRCs (Family Residential Centers) pending the outcome of that civil immigration process. They have broken the law.”
Hirono then suggests that because of Trump’s zero tolerance policy, that these were no longer civil proceedings but criminal.
Once again, Albence corrects Hirono, explaining to her that they are both criminal and civil.
“They are criminal when the Border Patrol prosecutes them. But at the conclusion of that process, once the individual came into ICE custody, they would go through administrative proceedings.”
Hirono’s response: “I’m confused”.
Albence then attempts to explain it one more time, but she interrupts him to clarify the point that the zero tolerance policy is that everyone would be criminally prosecuted. Albence concurs.
But what great point is that? That the Trump administration wants to prosecute every illegal because they have broken the law? That’s exactly what they should be doing!
I’m glad that Albence was there to give this Democratic Senator a proper education. But given that she’s been there for five years, I’m quite honestly shocked that she didn’t already know it was a criminal violation to come here illegally. How hard is this to understand?
UPDATE:
It turns out that Hirono may not have been as wrong as the ICE official led us to believe.
Here is how the 8 U.S. Code § 1325 reads:
Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
There is discretion built into the law, that an illegal can be penalized both civilly and criminally. Or just civilly. Or just criminally. Trump has chosen, via his zero tolerance policy, to prosecute them both criminally and civilly.
To be clear, illegals are breaking the law whether they are prosecuted criminally or civilly (or both), and Hirono should have known that. Clearly.
But she isn’t wrong that the criminal prosecution is a result of the discretion of the Trump administration, which the ICE official affirms at the end of the video.