(Washington, DC) May 22, 2013 –
Human Rights Watch said in a
report released today.
Imprisoning migrants with minor or no criminal
records before deporting them often affects people seeking to reunite with
their families in the US or fleeing persecution.
The 82-page report,
The 82-page report,
documents the negative impact of illegal
entry and reentry prosecutions,
which have increased 1,400 and 300 percent,
respectively,
over the past 10 years and now outnumber prosecutions for all
other federal crimes.
Over 80,000 people were convicted of these crimes in
2012, many in rapid-fire mass prosecutions that violate due process rights.
Many are separated from their US families, and a large number end up in
costly and overcrowded federal prisons, some for months or years.
“The US government is turning migrants into criminals by prosecuting many who could just be deported,”
“The US government is turning migrants into criminals by prosecuting many who could just be deported,”
said Grace Meng, US
researcher at Human Rights Watch and author of the report.
“Many of
these migrants aren’t threats to public safety, but people trying to
be with their families.”
The Senate immigration reform bill, proposed by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight,” calls for an additional US$250 million for increased prosecutions of these cases in Tucson, Arizona, and increasing the maximum penalties for many categories of people charged with illegal entry and reentry.
The Senate immigration reform bill, proposed by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight,” calls for an additional US$250 million for increased prosecutions of these cases in Tucson, Arizona, and increasing the maximum penalties for many categories of people charged with illegal entry and reentry.
The US government should
instead end unnecessary prosecutions for illegal entry or reentry.
The report is based on a thorough analysis of US government data and interviews with more than 180 people, including migrants and their families, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges.
The rapid growth in federal prosecutions of immigration offenses is part of a larger trend in which criminal law enforcement resources have been brought to bear on immigration enforcement, traditionally considered a civil matter.
The report is based on a thorough analysis of US government data and interviews with more than 180 people, including migrants and their families, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges.
The rapid growth in federal prosecutions of immigration offenses is part of a larger trend in which criminal law enforcement resources have been brought to bear on immigration enforcement, traditionally considered a civil matter.
Illegal
entry – entering the country without authorization – is a
misdemeanor.
Illegal reentry – reentering after deportation –
is a felony.
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The US government claims these prosecutions are necessary to keep dangerous criminals from entering the United States and to deter illegal immigration.
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The US government claims these prosecutions are necessary to keep dangerous criminals from entering the United States and to deter illegal immigration.
But the
immigration prosecutions are not meeting their purported goals.
Instead, many of those targeted for prosecution are non-citizens with minor or no criminal histories.
Instead, many of those targeted for prosecution are non-citizens with minor or no criminal histories.
In 2011, 27 percent of those prosecuted for
entry crimes had no prior felony convictions, and only 27 percent had
criminal convictions considered “most serious” by the US
Sentencing Commission, such as a conviction for a crime of violence or a
firearms offense.
A decade earlier, in 2002, 42 percent had criminal
histories considered “most serious” and 17 percent had no prior
felony convictions.
Texas Magistrate Judge Felix Recio told Human Rights Watch that the US government has created a “felony class” of noncitizens:
“Where
there’s no criminal history, no immigration history, the
criminalization of these defendants is something that’s very
difficult”.
Defense attorneys noted that even among people with more
serious records, many have very old convictions and have lived law-abiding
lives for years.
Moreover, many of those who enter or reenter the US unlawfully do so for reasons completely unrelated to conventional notions of criminal activity, such as the desire to reunite with family or because they are fleeing violence and persecution abroad.
Moreover, many of those who enter or reenter the US unlawfully do so for reasons completely unrelated to conventional notions of criminal activity, such as the desire to reunite with family or because they are fleeing violence and persecution abroad.
US District Judge
Robert Brack, who estimated he has sentenced over 11,000 people for illegal
reentry, stated,
“For 10 years now, I’ve been presiding over a
process that destroys families every day and several times each day.”
Yet rather than evaluating whether these prosecutions are meeting their intended goals, the US government seems intent on doing more of the same.
Yet rather than evaluating whether these prosecutions are meeting their intended goals, the US government seems intent on doing more of the same.
Recent data from the US Department of Justice indicates that
in the first six months of fiscal year 2013, immigration prosecutions were
up 10 percent.
Increasing immigration prosecutions would be counterproductive and wasteful.
Increasing immigration prosecutions would be counterproductive and wasteful.
The volume of border prosecutions has
overwhelmed federal courts along the southwest border, leading the US
federal criminal justice system to adopt short-cuts, including rapid-fire
group trials that imperil the due process rights of defendants charged with
illegal entry or reentry.
Immigration prosecutions draw resources away from organized crime and other issues that more seriously affect border security, Terry Goddard, a former Arizona attorney general, told Human Rights Watch.
Immigration prosecutions draw resources away from organized crime and other issues that more seriously affect border security, Terry Goddard, a former Arizona attorney general, told Human Rights Watch.
Illegal entry offenders sentenced under the
federal sentencing guideline serve an average of 19 months in federal
prison.
Immigration offenders now make up 30 percent of people entering the
federal prison system, which increasingly contracts with private prison
companies to hold non-citizens convicted of these offenses.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
said the Senate bill takes an important step by
barring criminal prosecution of asylum seekers and by allowing some people
who have been deported to apply for legal status, but it bars most people
deported for non-immigration criminal convictions, however how old or minor
their offense.
The United States
has a clear interest in
regulating the entry and stay of migrants in its territory, but the mass
immigration prosecutions of illegal entry and reentry often infringe upon
other rights.
Human Rights Watch
urged the US government to impose only
civil penalties on people caught crossing the border illegally and to
include in comprehensive immigration reform clear avenues for people who
have been deported to apply to return to the US legally.
“If the Obama administration and Congress are serious about reforming immigration to protect families, they should give all people who have been deported and separated from their families a chance to prove they can contribute to society,”
Meng said.
“Otherwise, the
government is doomed to continue spending millions prosecuting and
incarcerating people with strong ties to the US.”
Human Rights Watch Press release
Human Rights Watch Press release
