zlacker

No. And it almost isn't in the US:

"Being illegally present in the U.S. has always been a civil, not criminal, violation of the INA[Immigration and Naturalization Act]"

"Criminal violations of the INA, on the other hand, include felonies and misdemeanors and are prosecuted in federal district courts. These types of violations include the bringing in and harboring of certain undocumented aliens, aliens (INA §275), ..."

As can already be deduced from the above, illegal entry is a misdemeanor. Only the bringing in, harbouring, and certain specific aggravation conditions raise it to a felony.

(From https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33351.pdf)

>>IfOnly+(OP)
It is absolutely a criminal violation. Also there are 2 different acts: the crossing of the border (which even a US citizen can be charged for crossing illegally) and being in the country without permission.

Also misdemeanors are still considered serious crimes. I don't get where this hand-waving "because it's just a misdemeanor" comes from.