First, thank you for the response -- and while I disagree, I hope I'm coming across as conversational and not stubborn or willfully ignorant. I'm very aware that it's important to get this right, and that lying to myself isn't going to help. However, it's also important to understand what the realities are and assuming the worst-case would be harmful if it's unlikely to actually be the worst case.
Speeding (in the US) is a system where literally everybody drives over the speed limit. The overwhelming majority of people don't see any consequences for that. Of those who do see consequences, they are usually driving significantly over the speed limit and are caught by a police officer who uses their own discretion to enforce the law or not (in your case, giving you a verbal warning). Then, when they do enforce the law, the severity of consequences depends on how fast the person was speeding over the limit. A variety of factors go into those cases.
So, using speeding as an example of a black-and-white area of the law is surprising to me because it doesn't seem to be very black and white at all. Certainly, receiving a warning about speeding does indicate a grey area in enforcement -- the officer's discretion! On the contrary, the fact that, the speed limit is actually a hard black/white number yet there is still an obvious grey area as to "will I get busted for going this high speed in this area" should lend credence to the idea that grey areas exist where the underlying law isn't so black/white as a number.
A black / white area, for me, would be European country's laws on this topic which explicitly say that tourist stays can be for a maximum of 180 days per year. That's black and white!
Given the abundance of comments on these boards where "overstays", "border runs" are commonly discussed and exploited, it is flabbergasting to be told that Argentina has a harsh immigration system and that actually the laws are crystal clear. They don't appear to be crystal clear as they're written or enforced. And, aside from the one example given in this thread about parents being turned away (and my example of being shouted at but permitted entry), it's also difficult to understand what the consequences are: (eg. you're turned away but can come back in a month and try again or with a different visa the next day... you're turned away and banned for life... you're charged with a crime)
It is certainly clear that I'm vulnerable and at risk! It would be most helpful to know what those risks are. For example, is the risk being turned away at the border? Arrested? Fined? Banned from the country? "it isn't pretty for you or your employer".... what does that mean?
