Define Illegal

Jose Antonio Vargas has started a wonderful website: Define American.  There is so much I have learned just my perusing this blog.  For starters, the amazing number of undocumented immigrants who come from countries other than Mexico and Central American nations.  And the number of American citizens who are personally touched by the experience of the undocumented immigrants that they are related to, or who they themselves were before being able to rectify their immigrant status.  If you have a second to look at some of the posts on this website, you might find it as fascinating as I have.


However, I want to shift my focus here to thinking about defining "illegal".  What makes an action illegal?  (I've already addressed my thoughts previously on how illegal is not an adjective that describes a person.)  Here are a few definitions of illegal that you might come across on a quick Google search: forbidden by law or statute,  not according to or authorized by law, Prohibited by law.   Essentially, illegal means anything that goes against the laws of one's place of residence.  


Our laws tend to reflect our society's concept of ethics and the greater moral good.  While stopping in front of a red hexagonal sign is not ethical in and of itself, we've made this a law because of the value we place on protecting human life.  Some of our laws, however, have poorly reflected on our morality over time, and have needed to be changed.  Jim Crow laws are one example.   


Should we not ask ourselves how our immigration policies uphold our society's morality and ethics?  I recognize the need for security for the communal good, and certainly any immigration policy must take that into consideration.  I also recognize the need for every inhabitant to contribute to and receive from the rest of the community in an equitable (not necessarily equal) fashion.  However, I also believe that the people of the US have no greater or lesser value than the people of other nations, and should not feel themselves entitled to the good fortune we have because of any greater human worth.  


I wonder how many of us have done something illegal purposefully (I've broken laws when protesting injustice), stupidly (perhaps some underage drinking?), or innocently not (I know I've driven the wrong way down a one-way street in an unfamiliar town).  Most who are entering or staying in the US illegally are doing so with moral purpose (trying to keep their families fed, clothed and sheltered in their home countries), or sometimes stupidly (I've known young men who simply saw it as an adventure to make their own way in the US without realizing the possible consequences), and very often innocently (like Jose Antonio Vargas and other undocumented children).  How should we treat those who break the law when there is a greater moral principle at stake?  Or those who do so simply because they lack the maturity to make a better decision?  Or those who never did choose to break a law?  Or those who break the law regularly for immoral purposes (sex and drug traffickers, for instance)?  


Immigration reform is far from simple, but clearly we need to have this societal discussion about how our laws should match our ethics and values.