2018-Report-Punishing-Refugees-Migrants
Here’s what a recent study by Human Rights First has to say about increasing criminal prosecutions for illegal entry:
Additionally, there are security and public safety disadvantages associated with prosecuting illegal entry and reentry, as it diverts scarce judicial and prosecutorial resources from addressing more serious crimes. According to Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the Cato Institute, “every dollar spent on prosecuting an illegal immigrant for illegal reentry is a dollar that could have been spent on prosecuting or investigating a real crime.” Mr. Nowrasteh further explained that resources could be better allocated to violent crimes and property crimes.118
Criminally prosecuting individuals for illegal entry and illegal reentry also appears to be ineffective as a deterrence mechanism—its stated objective.119 In its 2015 report, the OIG concluded that CBP did not have an adequate system in place to measure whether or not Operation Streamline—or related criminal prosecutions— have succeeded in deterring individuals from
migrating to the United States without authorization.120 Similarly, a 2017 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the way in which border patrol calculates recidivism rates (i.e. effectiveness) for those prosecuted for illegal entry and reentry is inaccurate, as their calculations do not assess an immigrant’s apprehension history beyond one fiscal year.121 According to Retired Brownsville Judge Felix Recio, “prosecutions have no deterrent effect whatsoever. People will just continue crossing.”122
Today, southern border crossers are increasingly coming to the U.S. to seek protection from human rights violations, violence, and other forms of persecution. With many facing life or death
choices, increased enforcement measures such as prosecution, are even less effective in deterrence. Asylum seekers, unaccompanied children, and others seeking protection, make up a group the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA)— a DHS contractor—calls a “non-impactable population,” and a group which increased from less than two percent of border apprehension in 2003-2009 to over 33 percent in 2016.123According to IDA, these individuals “make no attempt to evade detection, and all […] surrender to the first USBP agent they encounter,” noting that traditional enforcement mechanisms are not effective in deterring this population.
********************************************
So here’s what Jeff “Gonzo Apocalypto” Sessions did in response:
Attorney General Announces Zero-Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry
Attorney General Jeff Sessions today notified all U.S. Attorney’s Offices along the Southwest Border of a new “zero-tolerance policy” for offenses under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a), which prohibits both attempted illegal entry and illegal entry into the United States by an alien. The implementation of the Attorney General’s zero-tolerance policy comes as the Department of Homeland Security reported a 203 percent increase in illegal border crossings from March 2017 to March 2018, and a 37 percent increase from February 2018 to March 2018—the largest month-to-month increase since 2011.
“The situation at our Southwest Border is unacceptable. Congress has failed to pass effective legislation that serves the national interest—that closes dangerous loopholes and fully funds a wall along our southern border. As a result, a crisis has erupted at our Southwest Border that necessitates an escalated effort to prosecute those who choose to illegally cross our border,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “To those who wish to challenge the Trump Administration’s commitment to public safety, national security, and the rule of law, I warn you: illegally entering this country will not be rewarded, but will instead be met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice. To the Department’s prosecutors, I urge you: promoting and enforcing the rule of law is vital to protecting a nation, its borders, and its citizens. You play a critical part in fulfilling these goals, and I thank you for your continued efforts in seeing to it that our laws—and as a result, our nation—are respected.”
On April 11, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a renewed commitment to criminal immigration enforcement. As part of that announcement, the Attorney General issued a memorandum to all federal prosecutors and directed them to prioritize the prosecution of certain criminal immigration offenses.
Today’s zero-tolerance policy further directs each U.S. Attorney’s Office along the Southwest Border (i.e., Southern District of California, District of Arizona, District of New Mexico, Western District of Texas, and the Southern District of Texas) to adopt a policy to prosecute all Department of Homeland Security referrals of section 1325(a) violations, to the extent
*********************************************
Poor Gonzo! Nobody has worked harder and with more dedication to earn the title of “Worst Government Executive of the 21st Century.” After all, promoting policies of:
- Racism
- Homophobia
- Xenophobia
- Denial of statutory and Constitutional rights
- Destruction of the US Immigration Court system
- Creation of a “New American Gulag”
- Abuses of prosecutorial discretion
- Providing misinformation to Congress
- Suppression of voting rights
- Religious intolerance
- Interference with state and local law enforcement
- Use of false and misleading statistics
- Gross waste and mis-deployment of scarce law enforcement resources
- Smearing asylum applicants, DACA young people, and immigration lawyers
- Targeting the rights of women, children, an other vulnerable groups
- Promoting false connections between immigrants and crime
- Trying to shift the blame for “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” in the Immigration Courts by the DOJ to the victims of the DOJ’s misconduct — respondents, lawyers, and judges
should earn Gonzo the title hands down. He’d certainly be my first choice!
Yet, because he lives in the Age of Trump, Scott Pruitt, and other flashier more visibly corrupt violators of the law, ethics, and human decency, Gonzo’s truly reprehensible actions as Attorney General sometimes get buried on the “back pages.”
Not to worry, though, Gonzo! Undoubtedly when scholars and political scientists have a chance to reflect on your truly horrible record as Attorney General and combine it with decades on the public payroll without many obvious positive or constructive contributions to speak of, I’m sure that your place in history as one of the worst and most prejudiced public officials of 21st Century America will be assured!
PWS
04-10-18