{"id":9904,"date":"2017-03-01T08:07:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T16:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=9904"},"modified":"2021-07-26T10:27:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T17:27:29","slug":"false-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/false-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018False Documents\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\u00a0by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/<em> National Review<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal wrote an unfortunate and misleading op-ed today on the new protocols on illegal immigration issued by the Department of Homeland Security \u2014 epitomized by the Journal\u2019s weird sentence, \u201cMr. Kelly\u2019s order is so sweeping that it could capture law-abiding immigrants whose only crime is using false documents to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Only crime? (And what a string of oxymorons: \u201claw-abiding\u201d\/\u201ccrime\u201d\/\u201cfalse documents\u201d!)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The WSJ should know that \u201cfalse documents\u201d are seldom used just \u201cto work,\u201d but are part and parcel of a continuous process of misleading or defrauding the system in nearly every transaction with government and private enterprise.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFalse documents\u201d do not imply a misspelled middle name or a day or two off the correct date of birth, or some sort of innocuous pseudonym. No, they involve the deliberate creation of a false identity, sometimes at the expense of a real person, and often with accompanying fraudulent Social Security numbers and photo identifications \u2014 crimes that both foul up the bureaucracy for law-abiding citizens, facilitate other crimes, and are the sort of felonies that most Americans would lose their jobs over and face either jail time or stiff fines. And often they are the second crimes \u2014 following not \u201claw-abiding\u201d behavior but the initial crime of entering and residing in the United States unlawfully.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The WSJ\u2019s editors some time should wake up and find a wrecked car sitting on their property (that went off the road and airborne and did thousands of dollars of damage), the driver having fled and the registration on the abandoned vehicle proving to be a \u201cfalse document,\u201d or better yet, discovering that one\u2019s check-routing number was printed on \u201cfalse document\u201d checks to facilitate theft of thousands of dollars, or having someone speed off after hitting your mailbox only to find from sheriffs that the license-plate numbers revealed a \u201cfalse document\u201d identity, or going to a market in the San Joaquin Valley while the person ahead of you tries four EBT cards in succession under \u201cfalse document\u201d names before one is found to have a positive balance, or waiting in line in a doctor\u2019s office as the receptionist politely explains to the person ahead of you that the health card presented has a name that does not match the driver\u2019s license presented. The use of \u201cfalse documents\u201d is not an end game or mere infraction, but rather the doorway to all sorts of subsequent falsification and fraud that does enormous damage both to the system in general and to individuals in particular.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As I wrote today, Americans are compassionate people and might well countenance allowing illegal-immigrant aliens without subsequent criminal records, but with a record of some years of established residence and a productive work history without dependence on social welfare, to pay a fine, apply for a green card, and become legalized residents \u2014 all the while maintaining residence in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the idea that illegal immigrants who assume false identities or lie on government documents thereby commit minor infractions is, well, outrageous.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/article\/445176\/wall-street-journal-immigration-editorial-false-documents-crime<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review The Wall Street Journal wrote an unfortunate and misleading op-ed today on the new protocols on illegal immigration issued by the Department of Homeland Security \u2014 epitomized by the Journal\u2019s weird sentence, \u201cMr. Kelly\u2019s order is so sweeping that it could capture law-abiding immigrants whose only crime is using [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[111,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2zK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9897,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-labyrinth-of-illegal-immigration\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":0},"title":"The Labyrinth of Illegal Immigration","author":"victorhanson","date":"February 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Navigating self-interest, ideals, and public opinion in the debate about illegal immigration. Activists portray illegal immigration solely as a human story of the desperately poor from south of the border fleeing misery to start new, productive lives in the U.S. \u2014 despite exploitation and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Trump&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Trump","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/trump\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11866,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-2020-news-cycle-will-look-very-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":1},"title":"The 2020 News Cycle Will Look Very Different","author":"victorhanson","date":"June 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ American Greatness The Russia collusion narrative and associated Robert Mueller hysteria are all but over. Mueller\u2019s obstruction of justice narrative involving the non-crime of collusion is ending, too. Donald Trump\u2019s tax-return psychodrama is going the way of the Emoluments Clause, the Logan Act, the 25th Amendment\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9938,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9938-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":2},"title":"From an Angry Reader: Read\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"From an Angry Reader: Read your column on immigration published in the 2\/24\/2017 Morning Call (Lehigh Valley, PA) and was wondering - you seemed to indicate that falsification of government affidavits should be grounds for deportation.\u00a0 Since it appears that Melanie Trump was employed in violation of her visa in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Angry Reader&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10590,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/a-little-daca-honesty\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":3},"title":"A Little DACA Honesty","author":"victorhanson","date":"September 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Corner- The one and only.\u00a0 \/\/ National Review By Victor Davis Hanson It is surreal to look at more than a dozen clips of Barack Obama in non-campaign mode prior to 2012 assuring the country (\u201cI am not king\u201d) that he simply could not usurp the power of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Immigration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9159,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-weirdness-of-illegal-immigration\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":4},"title":"The Weirdness of Illegal Immigration","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ Works and Days by PJ Media Set aside for a moment all the controversies over illegal immigration\u2014the wall, deportation, amnesty, Donald J. Trump, \u201ccomprehensive immigration reform,\u201d etc. Instead, contemplate what happens in a social, cultural, and economic context when several million immigrants arrive from one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Immigration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8055,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/when-the-law-is-a-drag\/","url_meta":{"origin":9904,"position":5},"title":"When the Law Is a Drag","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ PJ Media In the Ferguson disaster [1], the law was the greatest casualty. Civilization cannot long work if youths strong-arm shop owners and take what they want. Or walk down the middle of highways high on illicit drugs. Or attack police officers and seek to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Immigration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Immigration","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/immigration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo via PJMedia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/america_anarchy_flag_11-30-14-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9904"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9905,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9904\/revisions\/9905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}