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particular migrant. Criminal statutes and prosecution policies that seek to deter recidivism without consideration of family ties as a motive are doomed to fail. Significant Financial Costs While politicians and policymakers continue to debate whether or not criminal prosecutions for illegal entry and reentry are meeting their goals, the sharp increase in such prosecutions continues to incur tremendous costs. The rapid increase in the number of non-citizens serving prison sentences for illegal entry offenses is contributing to the burgeoning and overcrowded federal prison system. As of March 2013, 22,526 persons were incarcerated for immigration offenses in the federal prison system. 205 Because many immigration offenders serve short sentences, the number of immigration offenders in the federal prison population at any given time does not fully capture the increase in numbers of offenders entering the federal prison system each year. According to a recent Congressional Research Service report, in 2010, immigration offenders accounted for approximately 30 percent of all inmates entering the federal prison system, a significant increase from 1998, when they comprised 18 percent of all inmates entering the system. 206 Although drug offenders continue to make up the largest category of offenders in the federal prison system, the number of immigration offenders among new admissions now approaches the number of drug offenders among new admissions. 207 In contrast, the proportion of federal inmates incarcerated for a violent offense decreased from 12 percent in 1998 to 6.4 percent in 2010. 208 205 US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, “Quick Facts About the Bureau of Prisons,” last updated March 30, 2013, http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#4 (accessed April 25, 2013). 206 Nathan James, Congressional Research Service, “The Federal Prison Population Buildup: Overview, Policy Changes, Issues, and Options,” January 22, 2013, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42937.pdf (accessed April 14, 2013). 207 Ibid., p. 5. 208 Ibid. 73 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2013
In addition to time spent in federal prison after conviction, non-citizens charged with illegal entry or reentry are also detained pre-conviction because they are ineligible to receive bond while awaiting the conclusion of their case. Pre-trial detention of non-citizens for immigration offenses increased 664 percent from 1995 to 2010, and thus is the primary factor in the doubling of pre-trial detainees in the federal system from 1995 to 2010. 209 A September 2012 report examining both pre- and post-conviction incarceration calculated that in fiscal year 2011, the US government spent over $1 billion incarcerating individuals convicted of illegal entry and reentry. 210 Many non-citizens held in pre-trial detention or serving sentences for illegal entry or reentry are held in private prisons. The Associated Press reported in 2012 that the Federal 209 US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Pretrial Detention and Misconduct in Federal District Courts, 1995-2010,” February 2013, http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pdmfdc9510.pdf (accessed April 26, 2013). In 2000, immigration defendants comprised 22 percent of suspects in US Marshals custody. By 2010, they made up nearly half (46 percent) of suspects booked by US Marshals. 210 Alistair Graham Robertson et al., Grassroots Leadership, “Costs and Consequences,” September 2012, http://grassrootsleadership.org/sites/default/files/uploads/GRL_Sept2012_Report-final.pdf (accessed April 26, 2013). TURNING MIGRANTS INTO CRIMINALS 74
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H TUR
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All rights reserved. Printed in the
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Summary “I have not lost the desi
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Alicia’s comments above suggest,
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The breadth and scope of criminal p
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Recommendations To the US Congress
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Methodology This report is based on
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I. Background Illegal entry and pre
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13 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2013
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offenses, as well as “proportiona
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The guideline for illegal entry off
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The Obama administration deported a
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21 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2013
Page 28 and 29: II. Criminal Prosecutions Fail to F
Page 30 and 31: Sentencing Commission Data: Limits
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Page 34 and 35: TABLE 2: PERCENT CHANGE IN THE APPL
Page 36 and 37: The rising number of prosecutions o
Page 38 and 39: Critical Views of Judges and Attorn
Page 40 and 41: According to court records and thei
Page 42 and 43: these defendants, the stages of a f
Page 44 and 45: other court staff, Streamline proce
Page 46 and 47: Diverting Resources from Serious Cr
Page 48 and 49: III. Criminal Prosecutions Impinge
Page 50 and 51: ecently deported, 110 a trend also
Page 52 and 53: again illegally; such individuals
Page 54 and 55: Being in jail in Pecos was hard on
Page 56 and 57: experience, “One or two out of te
Page 58 and 59: probation and did not serve any tim
Page 60 and 61: who was starting to get in trouble
Page 62 and 63: “Though I’m in jail here, I fee
Page 64 and 65: Immigration law separates these fam
Page 66 and 67: were targeting schoolchildren as po
Page 68 and 69: esources. The problems were highlig
Page 70 and 71: Edgar Holguin, an assistant federal
Page 72 and 73: In addition to the trauma criminal
Page 74 and 75: IV. Is It Worth It? The US governme
Page 76 and 77: CBP also claims that its statistics
Page 80 and 81: Bureau of Prisons has contracts wor
Page 82 and 83: there is nowhere to run. There is n
Page 84 and 85: officials had looked at this case:
Page 86 and 87: Upon arrival in Mexico, Carlos, who
Page 88: TURNING MIGRANTS INTO CRIMINALS The
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