Obama Strong on Enforcement of Federal Immigration Law

A common talking point for those that criticize the current Administrations stance on Immigration reform is that they do not currently enforce Federal Immigration laws.

However, according to Garance Burke, of the Associated Press, for better or worse federal prosecutions of immigrants, has actually increased under President Obama's administration, full article can be read here:

Federal prosecutions of immigrants soared to new levels this spring, as the Obama administration continued an aggressive enforcement strategy championed under President George W. Bush, according to a new study released Thursday.

The 4,145 cases referred to federal prosecutors in March and April was the largest number for any two-month stretch since the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was created five years ago, the Syracuse University-based Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found. They ranged from misdemeanor illegal entry to prosecutions of immigrants with criminal records.

The government's heavy focus on immigration investigations already is creating a heavy burden for the swamped courts along the U.S.-Mexico border, whose judges handle hundreds more cases than most of their counterparts in the rest of the country.

From a process standpoint, this article presents an interesting counterpoint to the current immigration debate over enforcement.

While there has been a heavy emphasis on enforcement, and an overall increase in the number of enforcement personnel, there has not been a similar increase in the number of judges who can actually process the large number of cases brought up with increased enforcement.

While there is debate over whether federal law enforcement officials should be the sole enforcers of immigration laws, it is common knowledge that only federal immigration judges can process immigration cases.

So while the number of cases has increased there are around the same number of judges. So undocumented immigrants, often have to wait long periods of time to be deported.

This is yet another reason why the conversation should not just center on enforcement but around passing Comprehensive Immigration Reform, which could address the number of immigration judges.