The Department of Homeland Security detained a remarkably large number of migrants in fiscal year 2013—440,557—but not as many as the record high reached the previous year. DHS, Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2013 Annual Report 6 (September 2014). Removals, meanwhile, increased to what the department calls an all-time high of 438,421. Id. People convicted of nothing more serious than an immigration offense continue to face removal in increasing numbers. The number of migrants detained over the course of FY 2013 was 36,966 fewer than the 477,523 detained the previous year. To contextualize [...]
Border Patrol’s “Consequence Delivery System” Casts Doubt on President’s Immigration Priorities
By Geoffrey Boyce On February 11, articles in the New York Times and the Washington Post focused attention on Operation Streamline, the federal program under which as many as 80 unauthorized border crossers may be charged, convicted and sentenced in a hearing lasting as little as half an hour. Those convicted under Streamline face sentences of up to 180 days for “illegal entry,” INA § 275, or 2 to 20 years for “illegal reentry,” INA § 276, depending on whether they have a previous “aggravated felony” conviction in the United States. Readers of crImmigration.com are likely familiar with [...]
5 Cir: You can’t make up constitutional provisions
In a harsh rebuke to roughly thirty-five years of government practice, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit exposed the government’s repeated reliance on a non-existing constitutional provision to deny U.S. citizenship claims by children born out of wedlock in México. Saldana Iracheta v. Holder, No. 12-60087, slip op. (5th Cir. September 11, 2013) (Reavley, Elrod, and Graves, JJ.). Judge Graves wrote the panel’s decision. This case involved an individual who was born in México to a U.S. citizen father and Mexican citizen mother who were not married to each other. As an adult, [...]
9 Cir: Operation Streamline proceeding violates Rule 11; vacates conviction
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a criminal conviction obtained through Operation Streamline violated Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and vacated the noncitizen defendant’s conviction. United States v. Arqueta-Ramos, No. 10-10618, slip op. (9th Cir. September 20, 2013) (Fernandez, Paez, and Berzon, JJ.). Judge Paez wrote the panel’s opinion. This case involved a woman who pleaded guilty to illegally entering the United States, a misdemeanor violation of INA § 275(a). The Arizona federal district court, where this occurred, accepted Arqueta-Ramos’ [...]
Critical report on criminalization of migrants
Last week Human Rights Watch released a damning report on the federal government’s sustained effort to use criminal law and procedure to sanction immigration law violations. The report, Turning Migrants into Criminals: The Harmful Impact of U.S. Border Prosecutions (May 2013), documents the many ways in which the criminal justice system has been employed to punish conduct that previously was largely dealt with through the civil immigration system or that didn’t often register on the government’s radar. Though the 83-page report has much to offer, there were a few aspects worth [...]