Posted on 11/02/2004 7:05:01 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Federal prosecutors in San Diego said a burgeoning caseload was forcing them to be more selective about charging illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.
Under proposed guidelines, the government would focus on prosecuting immigrants whose previous crimes occurred only a short time ago and happened nearby, making it easier to get police and court records.
Illegal immigrants with criminal records are often charged with re-entry after deportation, a felony offense. Federal prosecutors in San Diego file more than 2,000 re-entry cases a year.
The guidelines would also be more selective about prosecuting immigrant smugglers, concentrating on cases in which migrants are led through dangerous terrain.
Carol Lam, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, asked the Border Patrol to comment on the proposals, and hasn't set a date for them to take effect, said Steve Clark, first assistant U.S. attorney. The changes would apply only to the Southern California district - which encompasses San Diego and Imperial counties.
Clark on Monday declined to discuss specifics, saying that might encourage criminals to alter their behavior in an effort to escape prosecution. But, he said, the changes are a response to "finite resources" and a growing caseload.
"(The) number of alien smuggling cases presented to our office has increased significantly over the last year," Steven Peak, an assistant U.S. attorney, wrote Paul Blocker Jr., the Border Patrol's acting San Diego sector chief. "Alien smuggling cases are manpower-intensive and often difficult to prosecute successfully."
Peak's Aug. 24 letter - first reported by KGTV-TV of San Diego - said many illegal immigrants with criminal histories committed their offenses outside Southern California or haven't been arrested for 10 years, making it difficult to get police and court documents.
Under the new guidelines, offenders with three felony convictions would be prosecuted only if two of those crimes occurred within the district in the last five years. At least one of those offenses should have resulted in a prison sentence of at least 13 months.
The new guidelines for prosecuting immigrant smugglers would require that the suspect "intentionally or recklessly created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury," Peak wrote. Examples include guiding migrants through remote areas in extreme weather.
A spokesman for the Border Patrol, Sean Isham, said the agency was working closely with prosecutors on the revisions and emphasized that they are still only proposals.
Shawn Moran, a spokesman for National Border Patrol Council Local 1613, which represents Border Patrol agents in San Diego, was more critical.
"We're not happy about it," he said. "It pretty much just raises the bar on the threshold for prosecution."
This is a shameful example of the direction we are heading in with elected officials who will not insist on enforcement of the laws. If necessary, troops should be placed at the borders to prevent illegal immigration. Next, legal immigration should be sharply reduced. A pox on both Democrats and Republican officials who ignore this problem.
Agreed, the entire immigration system crashed years ago but nether party has the guts to fix it.
That Bush expects the California taxpayer to support his pandering is simply outrageous. That any politician continues to pander to foreign nationals is disgraceful. A pox on their houses.
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