Immigration prosecutions at a record high

June 17, 2008

Immigration prosecutions on a federal level have increased to record levels, boosted in part by a rise in minor charges being pressed against every person caught crossing the United States-Mexico border, according to a report by the Washington Post.

In January and February of 2008 alone, there were 7,250 new immigration prosecutions by the Department of Justice – accounting for more than half of all new Justice Department prosecutions and outnumbering all white-collar, civil rights, environmental and other criminal cases combined.

The move is part of a federal initiative called “Project Streamline,” which requires that virtually every Mexican national caught illegally crossing the border be charged with at least a misdemeanor offense and jailed until they are brought to court. If they are convicted of the charge, they are deported – a move that puts any future bid to enter the country legally in jeopardy, the report stated.

Prior to 2005, most people caught crossing the borders were sent back without charges being filed against them. Only those facing more serious charges in addition to the border crossing were typically faced with a deportation proceeding.

At a recent congressional hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the initiative in place along the borders of Texas and Arizona “is a very good program, and we are working to get it expanded across other parts of the border” because “it has a great deterrent effect.”

But some lawmakers have blasted the program, saying it is a strong-handed move that overburdens U.S. resources, given the scarcity of available jail beds and federal defenders in the areas where the arrests are taking place.

“Operation Streamline in its current form already strains the capabilities of the law enforcement system past the breaking point,” said Melissa Wagoner, spokeswoman for Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Written by Dolan Media Newswires  |  Filed Under Immigration 

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