Does doing something illegal make you a criminal?

http://www.news10.net/storyfull3.aspx?storyid=16658
Now, up front I should point out I am in opposition to many of the current immigration laws and restrictions. I love having people who want to work and improve their lives and, here is where I get a little controversial, BUY INTO OUR PREVALENT CULTURE come here. I believe that was a strong contributing factor in the things that made our country great. With that said, I am also a firm believer in following the laws on the books whether I agree with them or not.
Construction workers, teachers, students, maids, lawyers and activists said they were fed up with federal and state legislation that aims to make life more difficult for illegal immigrants.
Let's remove the emotion from this. If you know what is going on, the above could read like this: "Criminals said they were fed up with federal and state legislation that aims to make life more difficult for people known to have committed crimes who are not being prosecuted for those crimes."
Similar demonstrations took place Friday in Tucson, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Milwaukee and elsewhere. On 24th Street in Phoenix, marchers were waving American and Mexican flags with signs that said, "We are not criminals,"
News flash. Actually...you are. I may not like the law, I may wish it were otherwise, but for now it IS the law, you broke the law in your means of entry. You are, in fact, criminals.
Phoenix resident Elida Lozano, 50, carried a sign that read, "Humanitarian Aid is not a crime." She said, "It's unfair what they want to do. It's racist. You're not going to find terrorists outside a Home Depot looking for a job."
I will argue that many of the immigration laws are exactly that...racist. Canadians can cross the border at will, there are quotas on only a few countries...and if you look at which countries have quotas, it is hard to not believe they are not racist.
Seriously, the vast majority of Mexicans I have been aware of work hard, take care of their families, and are generally good people in almost every sense of the world. THey are the type of people this country should be proud to have as citizens. Change their skin color and language and there are probably no issues.
At the same time, saying they are considered terrorists? Where did she pull that out of? No, that is not a reasoning I have heard seriously given for wanting to keep out the illegals from Mexico. So while I agree with part of her statement, the other just is not accurate.
That bill, which has yet to gain Senate approval, would deny state services to adults living in the U.S. illegally and impose a 5 percent surcharge on wire transfers from illegals.
Wow. Just...wow. Okay, the first part...that I have no problem with. I know many of my friends disagree, but frankly, that is one of the penalties of crime, however benign you might think it is...you are not entitled to services others pay for but you don't, that they have a legal right to that you don't...the moral right is another issue. Still...if they are here illegally...and you know they are here illegally...why would you charge them more money instead of DEPORTING THEM? What the smurf? That makes no sense at all! If they committed a crime, prosecute it, but doing this proves another motivation even more than racism...this is about money.
Illegal immigrants are seen by many people as a financial drain that takes advantage of social services but does not pay for them (being here illegally, they commonly are paid under the table and hence pay no taxes), taking jobs at a time when jobs are hard to find, and redirect money out of the country. Note, I am not saying these things are true or false, I am saying those are common perceptions. Thus we find much of the anti-immigration legislation is about money. Keeping it for the people that are easy to identify because they don't have olive skin and a fast accent. And that just makes me sad.