Most people don't realize it, but it is not a crime to enter the U.S. illegally. See 8 U.S.C. § 1325 : US Code - Section 1325: Improper entry by alien. The law calls for a civil penalty of not less than $50, nor more than $250.

I promised myself that I wouldn't get into my free market views on immigration, or point out that "illegal" immigrants are a financial benefit to the U.S., so I won't. But I will point out that our current immigration policies are dumb, inhumane, unrealistic, ridiculous, immoral, unworkable, laughable, unfair, racist, uneconomical, foolish, and just plain wrong. And that's not even mentioning unlibertarian.

Onward and upward,
airforce