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to return to his wife and two US-born daughters. 199 “The thought [that] prosecution will be
effective when their entire family is in the US is questionable,” said Magistrate Judge
Bernardo Velasco. 200 A US Department of Justice (DOJ) report found that 14 percent of
immigration offenders were readmitted to federal prison within three years, and most of
them were returned for another immigration offense. 201
Not all who seek to reenter repeatedly are people who are motivated to return to US
families. One man, who said he wanted to go to the US to work to pay for his younger
sister’s education, had been convicted twice through Streamline and most recently served
a 75-day sentence, but he said he would try again. 202 But given the millions of people the
US has deported in recent years, and the decrease in migration from Mexico, it is likely
that an increasing proportion of “repeat offenders” have family ties.
In most analyses of criminal recidivism, strong family ties are generally seen as a positive
factor associated with reduced likelihood of future crimes. In the context of illegal entry
crimes (which are neither violent nor property offenses), however, strong family ties are
actually a motivating factor for recidivism. For many defendants, deciding not to offend
again actually requires them to cut off ties from their families, and several of the
defendants who told Human Rights Watch they would not try to reenter had done precisely
that. 203 One man who had served 77-month and 90-month sentences for illegal reentry said
from Mexico, where he plans to stay, “[The hardest part is] to accept the fact that you’ve
lost everybody, your kids, your baby’s mom. The prison people become your family. You
have to be mentally prepared to lose everybody.” 204
To the extent that CBP seeks to avoid indiscriminate prosecution of migrants and to target
particularly dangerous offenders, the selective use of criminal prosecution as part of a
“consequence delivery system” is a commendable effort. But CBP’s categories do not
adequately take into account whether rejoining family members is a motive for any
199 Human Rights Watch interview with Ricardo M. (pseudonym), Tijuana, Mexico, October 16, 2012.
200 Human Rights Watch interview with Magistrate Judge Bernardo Velasco, Tucson, Arizona, April 3, 2013.
201 Motivans, US Department of Justice, “Immigration Offenders in the Federal Justice System, 2010,” July 2012, p. 36.
202 Human Rights Watch interview with Manuel D. (pseudonym), Nogales, Mexico, April 4, 2013.
203 Human Rights Watch interviews with Elmer Cardenas-Gonzales, Rosarito, Mexico, October 18, 2012; and with Jerry Lopez,
Rosarito, Mexico, October 19, 2012.
204 Human Rights Watch videoconference interview with Pedro H. (pseudonym) in Rosarito, Mexico, November 5, 2012.
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