Immigration Crackdown: Border Patrol Program Raises Due Process Concerns : NPR

Here is a three-part series from NPR that takes an in-depth look at a little-known program that is pushing the boundaries of the American justice system along the U.S.-Mexico border: Operation Streamline. Each part can be accessed from the other two parts via links part way down the page on the left side.
Border Patrol Program Raises Due Process Concerns : NPR "Operation Streamline is an initiative that takes immigrants caught entering the United States illegally and pushes them through the federal courts at unheard-of speeds. They are often arraigned and counseled, plead and are convicted in a matter of hours.

These illegal immigrants are coming for jobs or to reunite with family — and have no other criminal background. Immigrants in these circumstances used to be returned voluntarily, or they went through the normal administrative deportation process. Now, they leave as convicted federal criminals.

The government says Operation Streamline is a success — it's a deterrent and a needed change from a "catch and release" policy. But its measures of success don't always hold up. And no one can tell how much it costs."

Claims Of Border Program Success Are Unproven : NPR "The Border Patrol says three measures prove Operation Streamline is a success. First, it says, few of those convicted try to cross the border again. Second, it points to the decrease in the total number of people being apprehended crossing illegally. And third, the government says Operation Streamline has allowed it to concentrate on more serious crime.

Marc Miller, a law professor at the University of Arizona specializing in criminal procedure and sentencing, doesn’t buy that argument. He says there's no way a misdemeanor conviction will deter significant numbers of people from crossing."If dying in the desert is not a deterrent, it's hard to imagine why spending no or little time in federal prison and being returned to your home country is a deterrent," Miller says. He doesn't even think giving Operation Streamline defendants the maximum sentence would matter. "I don't think six months would make a difference here, either. The drivers of immigration are economics, not sanctions," he says."


Border Convictions: High Stakes, Unknown Price : NPR: "No one knows how much Operation Streamline costs. The Border Patrol may not be spending anything extra on the program, but it hands off its prisoners to the U.S. Marshals Service, which is part of the Justice Department. That department and the federal courts have to provide transportation, housing, food, interpreters, defense attorneys, courtrooms, clerks and judges."

Sept. 13, 2010