APB for Sean Hannity

NEWS RELEASE

DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS • ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kyrsten Sinema
(602) 926-5058

Border Patrol, Minutemen Have Double Standard on Immigration


PHOENIX, AZ (April 20, 2005) - Apparently the U.S. Border Patrol believes that national TV and radio stars don't have to play by the same rules as others.

Mr. Sean Hannity, a well-paid commentator for Fox News, climbed over a barbed wire fence separating the United States from Mexico yesterday at about 3:15 p.m. A few minutes later he climbed back over the fence, breaking federal law by reentering the U.S. illegally.

Mr. Hannity's border violations were videotaped by ACLU Legal Observers. The Border Patrol was contacted, but they chose not to arrest or cite Mr. Hannity for his willful violation of federal law. Likewise, Minutemen in the vicinity of the incident did not take the opportunity to turn Mr. Hannity over to federal officials, as they have allegedly done with all other illegal immigrants apprehended on the border this month.

Federal law, specifically 19 U.S.C. Section 1459(a), requires all "individuals arriving in the United States other than by vessel, vehicle, or aircraft [to] enter the United States only at a border crossing point designated by the Secretary; and immediately report the arrivals and present themselves, and all articles accompanying them for inspection; to the customs officer at the customs facility designated for that crossing point."

According to 19 U.S.C. Section 1459(e), anyone who intentionally enters the United States at a place other than a designated border crossing can be imprisoned for up to one year and fined up to $5,000. Mr. Hannity faces neither of these penalties. Individuals apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol do.

This is the very same crime that Minutemen have traveled across the country to Arizona to stop. While some may argue that Mr. Hannity's actions were not significant, he committed the same crime that all individuals who enter the country illegally commit. In fact, ACLU observers were warned that they would be arrested if they accidentally or deliberately crossed the border and tried to reenter the U.S.

Why is U.S. Border Patrol demonstrating such an obvious double standard? If the Minutemen came to Arizona to watch the border for signs of illegal immigration, why did they fail to report Mr. Hannity?

There is only possible conclusion. The Minutemen and the Border Patrol have one set of rules for television celebrities, and another for hard-working people who cross the border in search of work.
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Sinema can't be serious.

What would possess her to do something so lame?

She is obviously desparate to disparage the Minuteman Project. It's also possible that Hannity really bugs her and she's out to get him. Another possiblity is that Sinema is a media whore and craves attention.

My guess would be that Sinema can't bear the fact that the Minuteman Project was a success. Apparently, she has a problem with concerned citizens aiding the USBP.