What does amnesty mean to you? I only want your definition, not discussion of candidates or legislation, etc.

[6packofun]

If it's too political to give definitions, I'll understand if this disappears.  I'm just having a hard time figuring out what people mean when they say amnesty in regards to illegal immigration.  This is basically an open-ended poll, so maybe try not to give comments or ask questions of another person's definition unless you need clarification?  I dunno if this will fly.  LOL

 

Edited January 30, 2016 by 6packofun

[Crimson Wife]

Amnesty = permanent legal permission to remain in the country. It is a separate question from citizenship IMHO.

[goldberry]

Amnesty (in relation to the current immigration issues) = permission to remain in the country without any penalties.  With penalties I would not consider it amnesty.  I think that puts me in disagreement with some, because I hear people call a solution amnesty even when it includes penalty.

[Desert Strawberry]

The word amnesty means mercy or forgiveness. 

"Amnesty" as a political term means to forgive illegal immigrants for crossing the border without permission if they have built productive, law-abiding lives. 
The policy comes into play because there are immigrants in this country who crossed the borders with no foul intent, worked, married, had families, often came over as children with no choice in the matter, and are by all appearances residents of the US. To deport them would mean breaking up families, send them back to places where they have no home, no family, no roots, and no resources. 

[Desert Strawberry]

I also want e to note that Amnesty International is an advocacy group that opposes the death penalty and political imprisonment, and has nothing to do with immigration at all. 

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Amnesty (in relation to the current immigration issues) = permission to remain in the country without any penalties.  With penalties I would not consider it amnesty.  I think that puts me in disagreement with some, because I hear people call a solution amnesty even when it includes penalty.

 

This.

[Guest]

Amnesty is forgiving the violation of illegal entry or residence in a given country. It does not inherently imbue positive traits of citizenship, voting rights, social safety net, etc. It's a pass on the criminal behavior at its root.

 

That doesn't mean those other things cannot also be granted, but they are not inherent in the definition.

[Guest]

About 30 years ago (well, exactly 30 years ago, because I remember I was working on this when the Challenger exploded), Colorado ran a Tax Amnesty program.  It was an opportunity for people who had not been filing taxes to come clean.  They had to file the back taxes, and pay them, but there was no prosecution, and the penalties and interest were waived.  It was a really successful program because it brought in the revenue but even more importantly, it got people on the tax rolls, which meant future revenue as well.  I think there was a crack-down after the amnesty program ran--if non-filers didn't come clean during amnesty but were caught later, they got the book thrown at them.  

 

So that sort of shapes how I think of the word "amnesty."  It's a chance to come out of the shadows and make things right without being faced with the penalties (prosecution, deportation) that would apply if you were caught and had not applied for amnesty.  

 

 

[Aiden]

It may not be the technical definition of the word, but when I hear "amnesty" in a political context, I think of the forgiveness of the criminal act of entering the country unlawfully and the granting of permission to stay and to be treated as if the entry were legal.

[Pam in CT]

About 30 years ago (well, exactly 30 years ago, because I remember I was working on this when the Challenger exploded), Colorado ran a Tax Amnesty program.  It was an opportunity for people who had not been filing taxes to come clean.  They had to file the back taxes, and pay them, but there was no prosecution, and the penalties and interest were waived.  It was a really successful program because it brought in the revenue but even more importantly, it got people on the tax rolls, which meant future revenue as well.  I think there was a crack-down after the amnesty program ran--if non-filers didn't come clean during amnesty but were caught later, they got the book thrown at them.  

 

So that sort of shapes how I think of the word "amnesty."  It's a chance to come out of the shadows and make things right without being faced with the penalties (prosecution, deportation) that would apply if you were caught and had not applied for amnesty.  

 

Our library does a two-week fine amnesty every so often.  It works just as Patty Joanna says here -- brings folks out of the woodwork and encourages us to true up and move on.  If we miss it, we're liable for all back fines plus $$$-tick-tick-tick.  It's a serious bummer, to miss it.  Not that I (ahem) ever accrue fines.  Or miss the amnesty.

[Crimson Wife]

Amnesty (in relation to the current immigration issues) = permission to remain in the country without any penalties.  With penalties I would not consider it amnesty.  I think that puts me in disagreement with some, because I hear people call a solution amnesty even when it includes penalty.

 

The amnesty is waiving the penalty of deportation. Requiring someone who receives amnesty to pay the back taxes on the income he/she earned while in the U.S. illegally does not change it from being amnesty. Everyone who works in the U.S. is required to pay income taxes, regardless of that person's citizenship. A foreign national who has a visa and works in the U.S. still has to pay income taxes.

 

[goldberry]

The amnesty is waiving the penalty of deportation. Requiring someone who receives amnesty to pay the back taxes on the income he/she earned while in the U.S. illegally does not change it from being amnesty. Everyone who works in the U.S. is required to pay income taxes, regardless of that person's citizenship. A foreign national who has a visa and works in the U.S. still has to pay income taxes.

 

 

I would agree that just paying what they were supposed to pay anyway is not a penalty.  Paying something additional like a fine or an extra percentage would be a penalty.

 

But, to me (which is what the OP asked) amnesty means NO penalties.  Choosing not to deport but to enforce some other penalty does not equal amnesty to me.

 

To some people, I think the definition refers to the specific penalty of deportation, which is why there is a disagreement over what is or is not amnesty.

[Alessandra]

I haven't read all the posts, so perhaps someone has mentioned this.

 

Amnesty and amnesia have the same root, so to me both connote forgetting. Amnesty -- forgetting legal penalties, as in tax amnesty, or try to get legal enalties forgotten, as in Amnesty international. In tax amnesty, the penalties were de juro, just, but as a practical matter, de facto, they just get too big for people to come forward. For Amnesty International, the penalties were just under one system of government, but not under another and were, in fact, against moral law, as AI sees it.

 

Just thinking out loud....

[6packofun]

I would agree that just paying what they were supposed to pay anyway is not a penalty.  Paying something additional like a fine or an extra percentage would be a penalty.

 

But, to me (which is what the OP asked) amnesty means NO penalties.  Choosing not to deport but to enforce some other penalty does not equal amnesty to me.

 

To some people, I think the definition refers to the specific penalty of deportation, which is why there is a disagreement over what is or is not amnesty.

 

 

Yes, I agree that it seems to come down to which punishment people want.  Which is an interesting and complex basis for disagreement.

[Guest]

The word amnesty means mercy or forgiveness.

 

"Amnesty" as a political term means to forgive illegal immigrants for crossing the border without permission if they have built productive, law-abiding lives.

The policy comes into play because there are immigrants in this country who crossed the borders with no foul intent, worked, married, had families, often came over as children with no choice in the matter, and are by all appearances residents of the US. To deport them would mean breaking up families, send them back to places where they have no home, no family, no roots, and no resources.

Thank you for phrasing this so perfectly. I do know someone in exactly this situation.

[Desert Strawberry]

Thank you for phrasing this so perfectly. I do know someone in exactly this situation.

I knew a lot of people in this situation. From all over the world.