Sorry but that’s not right, Illegal Entry is a criminal offense. Misdemeanor for the first offense, felony charges for any subsequent offenses.

You got a source for your claim about California? I don’t want to immediately doubt that it’s true, because I know it’s plausible. I just cannot find any information online confirming that to be true.

EDIT: Actually after doing more research I am confident that this claim is completely fabricated. Let’s do better, guys. We can take down ICE without just making things up.

EDIT2: Instead of simply downvoting my comment, I would encourage to you post a source that proves my claim wrong.

I’ve had a very similar experience to OP in the last few months, it’s actually what originally lead me to discovering the fediverse in the first place. They have automated detection that will ban you within seconds of making a post. I appealed because I had no idea my alt account had even been banned from the subreddit I was posting on in the first place.

It’s unreal. Rather than giving you a warning when trying to make a post they just automatically ban you and will auto-reject any appeals you make.