Immigration

Immigration is the process of moving to a new country to live permanently. Historically, immigration has been a large part of American culture. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, while some actions that can be related to being undocumented in the US, simply being undocumented itself is not a crime. Illegal entry is a misdemeanor, but can be a felony depending on other conditions. Many undocumented immigrants do not enter illegally, however. Undocumented immigrants may overstay, work without a visa or violate conditions of their visa. Being undocumented is only criminally punishable if the individual was previously removed and then returned without permission. The majority of immigration laws are enforced through civil proceedings, however, the use of federal criminal proceedings has increased in recent years from 20,000 in 2003 to 91,899 in 2009.