There are 7.6 billion people in the world? How many of those 7.6 billion people would love to come to the USA? The numbers are staggering and one needs to control the influx or the USA becomes the place those folks are fleeing. Yes criminal may be a harsh word, but it also a correct word. We are a nation of laws and it is against our laws to enter the country illegally.
Where do you draw the line ... who of those 7.6 million folks can come in and who can't. It is our right to decide, not there's.
I'm pretty sure I covered all that:
Perhaps it's fair enough that you might seek to exclude such people purely for your own benefit and your country's benefit, and make them suffer in all manner of arbitrary ways as a deterrent.
I think you know this sentence was the main point of my comment:
However, I'd be cautious about elevating yourself above them morally - I can't pretend to do that.
I didn't. All I said is that they are criminals as they broke our laws ... you said they weren't. And I added that we as a nation have every right to create and enforce those laws. Morally superior, I don't see how you get that.
I'm not making anyone suffer. Their own governments are. In most cases, we, as a nation send generous foreign aid packages to those countries in an attempt to ease their suffering. I have no quarrel with that ... but I do have a problem with the citizens of those countries deciding on their own that they have some special right to come here without following established law.
Your use of the word "criminal" to refer to someone crossing a border without permission is striking, and highlights the separation of decency and law in my eyes.
Perhaps if you could imagine yourself in their situation, you might find yourself doing the same thing seeking a better life for your children - there many far worse ways to get branded a 'criminal'. Perhaps it's fair enough that you might seek to exclude such people purely for your own benefit and your country's benefit, and make them suffer in all manner of arbitrary ways as a deterrent. However, I'd be cautious about elevating yourself above them morally - I can't pretend to do that.