Immigrant prosecution program draws criticism

Operation Streamline continues to prosecute illegal immigrants in the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, but one border expert does not believe the program is effective.

During a teleconference hosted by the Immigration Policy Center last week, Aarti Kohli, director of immigration policy at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the Berkeley School of Law, said Operation Streamline is an example of “a misdirected policy.”

But Arizona’s U.S. Attorney said the program has meant a significant reduction in apprehensions and that it continues to be effective.

Operation Streamline is used to prosecute and imprison border crossers in federal district courts, regardless of their criminal history. Previously, most first-time border crossers were deported through the civil immigration system or were voluntarily returned across the border.

A recent report by the Warren Institute called “An Alternative to Streamline” states that Operation Streamline -- used in Yuma and Tucson -- appears to be channeling law enforcement resources away from prosecuting more serious crimes.

“(Operation Streamline) has caused prosecutions for illegal entry under (U.S. Code-Section 1325) to skyrocket in the District of Arizona. As those prosecutions have increased, prosecutions for importing controlled substances and for alien smuggling have declined,” according to the report.

Meanwhile, in the Southern District of California, where Operation Streamline has not been implemented, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is only targeting border crossers who have been previously removed and who have substantial criminal records, according to the report.

“What we saw was really remarkable,” Kohli said. “The rate for prosecuting drug offenses and alien smuggling offenses is way higher in the Southern District of California as opposed to Arizona.”

Kohli pointed out that in 2009, federal prosecutors in the border districts turned away 1,800 drug prosecutions. A large percentage of those were due to a lack of enough investigative and prosecutorial resources.

“Why don’t they have enough resources? The answer is because they are going after border crossers, whose crime is mainly crossing the border, and not drug trafficking and not other high level offenses. That’s unfortunate,” she said. “Streamline shows how important it is to have a strategic, comprehensive policy instead of criminalizing folks who are really just crossing the border to get a job.”

In a statement issued Tuesday, Dennis Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, defended his office.

“Our federal prosecutors work effectively alongside Department of Homeland Security agencies to prosecute all border crimes in southern Arizona and this work is making a difference, resulting in significant reductions in apprehensions where Streamline has been applied. At the same time, we are making significant progress in the areas of drugs, weapons, and cash seizures and prosecutions,” he said in the statement.

Streamline is also incredibly expensive, Kohli added. In Tucson alone, the government spends $52.5 million per year to detain Streamline defendants. She said the government has not been able to isolate the cost of Streamline and show the benefit of the program.

Mario Escalante, public information officer for Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, said about 70 people are prosecuted under Operation Streamline each day in federal court in Tucson.

He said Operation Streamline is one of the agency’s many resources, including manpower, technology and infrastructure.