Rick Santorum: Undocumented Immigrants Are All Law-Breakers

GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, took a hard line on unauthorized immigration during a Wednesday campaign stop in Spencer, Iowa, saying undocumented immigrants are breaking the law with "everything" they do.

"You can't be here for 20 years and commit only one illegal act ... because everything you're doing while you're here is against the law," Santorum said, according to the Spencer Daily Reporter. "I understand Congressman Gingrich saying, 'Well, you know, people have been here and they've been good citizens and paying taxes.' Yeah, under somebody else's Social Security number because you stole it."

Santorum's line is based on a common refrain of those who oppose legalization for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States: "Illegal" immigrants have committed a crime simply by being in the country. In fact, even though crossing the border unauthorized is a criminal violation, living in the United States without documents is a civil violation.

The use of false Social Security numbers by undocumented workers is also more complicated than Santorum implies. Using another person's Social Security Number is likewise not necessarily criminal identity theft, according to a 2009 decision by the Supreme Court. In Flores-Figueroa v. United States, the court ruled that prosecutors must prove that someone knowingly used another person's Social Security number -- not simply that they used it -- in order to prove criminal identity theft.

In other words, undocumented immigrants may not be guilty of a crime. At the same time, most undocumented workers -- as many as three-quarters, according to the Social Security Administration -- are paying into Social Security through withholding by their employers, even though they will likely never benefit from the system. An estimated $9 billion per year in Social Security taxes are taken from undocumented workers each year, according to an Associated Press report.

Comments

[geminga]

07:19 PM on 12/26/2011

The Colorado judges' decision is a clear manifestation of a break down of the American rule of law. His ruling thumbed prior precident rulings. Obtaining a SS# is a legal process avalible only to those who have proven to the social security administration they have met eligibility requirements. Anyone who does not go through the required process is by passing long standing protocols to ensure the integrity of the SS system . The Colorado judge must see this as an inconveinient truth. If the reasons behind having a secure social security system with integrity has escaped the judge....perhaps he should find another line of work in the legislative branch.

[rwboberg]

12:00 PM on 12/14/2011

What else can he say? The present Republican leadership will never do anything to solve this issue. They need it, along with pro-life and anti-gay smears to keep their base engaged. Why would they ever solve the immigration issue that keeps the public voting for them?

Consider that this is really an illegal employer issue. If the employers could not hire undocumented workers, the labor pool would be smaller and they would have to pay at least minimum wage and collect employment and medicare taxes the same as legal employers.

The present situation is win-win for them. It draws their voters to the polls, and their contributors get cheap, but illegal labor, putting downward pressure on wages for all of us.

At present, Republicans working for the good of this country is a huge myth.

[rhuffie]

02:11 PM on 12/11/2011

I was just wondering how a person claiming to be so devout one minute can sound so hateful the next towards a group of people whose only crime is trying to make a better life for themselves.
As I recall, God's plea for us to love our fellow man is not restricted to national borders.
It would be interesting to see some of these so-called Christians find a biblical justification for their often hateful speech towards these people.

[Scott Leland]

10:11 AM on 12/12/2011

Rick Santorum is a Catholic (a "so-called Christian" church) as are most of the illegal immigrants from Central and South America that are causing US taxpayer's problems. So you are saying that Americans that express their concerns about what is happening to their country are "hateful?"

[Dean77]

11:40 AM on 12/12/2011

Why are you judging so harshly the people that want our laws obeyed. We all want a better life, but there are right and wrong ways to go about it. Legal and illegal.

[Alva Vargas]

04:28 PM on 12/20/2011

And what kind of country would we be living in without laws? I think it would be like the wild, wild, west! A free for all!

[Cleverboots]

01:32 PM on 12/10/2011

Undocumented immigrants may not be guilty of a crime but they must earn their right to ciitizenship just as other immigrants have done.

[Alva Vargas]

04:36 PM on 12/20/2011

WHAT?!!? not guilty of a crime??? OK, you go into their country "illegally" and see what happens to you!! Yes, illegals are criminals because they have knowingly broken the law for personal gain by sneaking into our country "illegally". Do you really think Americans would spend their time and passion protesting and insisting that our broken of immigration laws be fixed and re-enforced if there were not a problem?!!?

[Cleverboots]

09:31 PM on 12/20/2011

Children of illegal immigrants are not criminals. The parents who brought them here without obeying the law are criminals and should not be allowed to live here without going through the proper legal steps to citizenship. Other countries like Britain have it right. Five years before residency is earned. You must earn the right to become a full citizen.

[l78lancer]

11:19 PM on 12/09/2011

"In Flores-Figueroa v. United States, the court ruled that prosecutors must prove that someone knowingly used another person's Social Security number -- not simply that they used it -- in order to prove criminal identity theft."
---------------------------------------------------->

So in essence the decision says that if someone sits around and generates numbers and uses them to represent social security numbers that is not necessarily criminal, even it the number is an assigned number. That sounds like the decriminalization of identity theft.

If you can't apply for a social security number because you are not documented, then any number that use use you use knowingly, whether it is assigned to someone or not. If the number is not assigned it's fraud, if the number is assigned it's fraud and theft. Anything else completely devalues and compromises the integrity of the social security system.

That was a bad decision by the court.

[Scott Leland]

10:13 AM on 12/10/2011

Maybe the court was thinking that "your" Social Security number does not "belong" to you, but is the property of the government and it is being loaned to you to maintain your account. When an Illegal Immigrant uses a citizen's SS number to work or commit another fraud it is the government's property that is being used criminally in your account's name.

[l78lancer]

09:50 PM on 12/12/2011

Hmmm, interesting. Someone used my SSN to get credit cards several years ago. The spent quite a bit. The person was caught, tried and convicted. And he paid me restitution. The Social Security Administration did not get involved at all because they indicated that the damage that was done was done to me even though they used my - their - number fraudulently. So I speak from experience.

If an illegal had gotten hold of my SSN and cashed/bounced checks, gotten credit cards, took out loans, even gotten a bill from the IRS, it would have been much the same scenario.

So you make a good case, but there is still something amiss about the court's decision that doesn't add up.

[Andrea VM]

01:47 PM on 12/09/2011

So, it is moral to accept 9 Billion paid by these terrible law breakers in their income taxes each year into the government's coffers, plus all the taxes paid to the local governments (sales tax, property taxes) while labeling them "criminals, law breakers"? Since when is it OK to accept, keep and distribute the money obtained from "criminals"/illegal aliens knowing that it was obtained through their illegal activities (working without being lawfully authorized to work)?

What about giving these people the opportunity to obtain the social number, having driving licenses (insurance industry would benefit, too), and make them eligible to work with employment authorization? Government will collect fees, will know who they are and where they live, will be able to run a security check on them ($380.00 paid by each and every immigrant for employment authorization per year), plus any other processing fees to legalize their immigrant status? (Fees charged by USCIS for processing run into several thousands Dollars per person)!

Such approach will make our country a better and safer place to live.

Majority of "illegals" have proven to be better citizens as the US natives many times over.

Stop bashing immigrants for all ills of our society and do what is good for the country, not for Koch Brothers and them alike.

And, by the way, Santorum and him alike do not look like as an Alaskan natives of Indians to me. Some of his ancestors most probably came to this country as immigrants, too.

[Scott Leland]

10:20 AM on 12/10/2011

So the 20 million Illegal Immigrants that are working in our country and are sending money to their home countries (that should be spent here in our towns) make our country a better and safer, (the Los Angeles County Jail is 80% filled with immigrants) place to live?)

If those jobs were employing Americans, then we would all be better off, including the 30 million foreign-born people working here that are doing that legally.

[HazelRah1980]

01:34 PM on 12/09/2011

Does he make any other kind of comments?

[twb1951]

01:15 PM on 12/09/2011

he is correct in his assessment, however he says nothing about the folks who illegally employ illegal immigrants, why is that?

[whispurr]

07:50 PM on 12/09/2011

NO, he is not. Because someone is guilty of one illegal thing, does not mean they are "breaking the law with EVERYTHING they do," which is exactly what Santorum, said. There is a huge difference. Unfortunately, every time Santorum spouts, he shows he has no understanding of grey areas, and clearly is deficient in grey matter. Contrary to how most cons think, the world and every argument is not black and white.

[Alva Vargas]

04:23 PM on 12/20/2011

He is definitely correct and more power to him! He has common-sense and character to call things for the way they really are instead of side-stepping because it's not politically correct or he doesn't want to offend illegals and their support groups. Illegals need to go home and protest and demand rights from their own governments, not here where they have no rights because they illegally entered the country and do continue to break the law while they are here with fake ss#s, false information for benefits, etc.

[Alva Vargas]

04:40 PM on 12/20/2011

Senator Grassley and other supporitng senators are pushing "E-Verify" bill to be mandatory for every employer in the country to use. Right now it's just voluntary. The objective is to secure that every employee is legal with a good social security number and keep the emplolyer "honest". You can google E-Verify and Senator Grassley for the status of that bill. I hope it passes.

[johneljuan]

12:53 PM on 12/09/2011

SAY IT LOUDER RICK, THEN MAYBE SOMEONE WIL PAY ATTENTION TO YOU.

[zbasel]

12:45 PM on 12/09/2011

This is a very obvious statement. The United States of America can not afford to support these Illegal immigrants. We can not be giving them free education and health care. Hell I am an American citizen and i have to PAY for my health care yet these Illegals can walk in and get it for free and not be held accountable for it. Businesses get away with hiring them w/o being held accountable for! If we want to eliminate this problem then we must eliminate the incentive for them to come here Illegally. Period.

[northcliffeinc]

12:14 PM on 12/09/2011

RICK IS OFFENSE...need NOT say anything

[Alva Vargas]

04:43 PM on 12/20/2011

What's offensive is the invasion of illegals who have illegally sneaked into our country to capitolize on our broken immigration system with no respect for our laws and the American people!??! You don't have a clue!??!

[pkatcher]

05:17 PM on 12/20/2011

got a clue....the illegals have been here for DECADES butnow it is important since theGOP/TP needs someone to HATE!!

[lulubelle1956]

12:07 PM on 12/09/2011

Oh please Rick. People were enjoying sodomy and fellatio while those laws were on the books too, including married people. Get real with your "no law should be broken" mantra. Absent broken laws, we would still have slavery and prohibition and anti sodomy and miscegenation laws on the books, though i suspect you and the GOP/tp would like to re-legislate all those laws back into existence, just as you are doing with Jim crow laws.

[Cooking2]

12:02 PM on 12/09/2011

Rick, don't give up.........“The test of a people is what they can do when they’re tired.”
― Winston Churchill

[Alva Vargas]

04:54 PM on 12/20/2011

That's right! I'm not giving up on my country and giving it away to a bunch of illegal renegades who have no respect for our laws or the American people because they only come to take, take, take and turn a blind eye to the consequences of the laws they've broken and now because we're finally starting to enforce the law, their crying victim and that they have rights!! On what planet does that make sense?!!? They all need to go home and complain and protest to their own government for change and work in their own communities and set healthy examples for their family to follow instead of taking the illegal, easy way out. I think they should also be charged with child abuse for putting their kids in this degrading, humiliation position. They gotta go!

[den1953]

11:51 AM on 12/09/2011

So why does Santorun endorse those wealthy business owners that use illegals to work building there stores like WalMart in PA?

[Alva Vargas]

04:44 PM on 12/20/2011

Your'e obviously misinformed! He's a keeper!

[fresberg]

11:40 AM on 12/09/2011

Rick Santorum is proof positive that some Conservatives live on a different planet from the one on which I live. This man consistently makes no sense to me.

[Alva Vargas]

04:56 PM on 12/20/2011

I don't know what planet you live on but I live on Rick Santorum's planet and being conservative has nothing to do with it, it's about common-sense and breaking the law !??!