Immigration Bill Wierdness

I know, I know. I said no posts while I am in Minneapolis for the wedding. But I had to post this one. I found this sentence in this article on the current Immigration Bill debate.

He said Democrats perceive a benefit in having only a GOP-written House bill that criminalizes being an illegal immigrant.

Emphasis added by me. Isn't this EXACTLY what is wrong with the current debate? We're talking about whether or not to make a criminal act criminal. i.e. It is already illegal - criminal - contrary to established law - to be in the U.S.A. without having observed the border laws and entered via the usual procedures. And yet, we feel a need to debate whether or not to "criminalize" this act!

Sigh. I'm not saying this is not a problem. But let's be honest with ourselves. Entering the country illegally is criminal. If you want to debate whether it is immoral or unethical or good policy, that is another whole debate. But that is a debate we can honestly have. This debate over non-issues is just obscuring the facts and making it impossible to come to a consensus.