Arrested on Entry: Operation Streamline and the Prosecution of Immigration Crimes

Here is a new feature on Operation Streamline from the Migration Information Source. Operation Streamline targets illegal border-crossers in portions of five Southwest border sectors, referring virtually all of those apprehended for prosecution. Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl recently published a border-security plan that requests more federal funding for Operation Streamline in their home state, which just passed a controversial immigration enforcement law.

Donald Kerwin and Kristen McCabe report the following:

• Prosecutions for immigration offenses reached an all-time high of nearly 92,000 in 2009 — 54 percent of all federal prosecutions that year — compared to under 6,000 in 1994, when immigration-related prosecutions were only about 9 percent of the total.

• The government may be starting to shift its prosecution priorities: more serious immigration offenses accounted for a greater proportion of prosecutions during the first three months of 2010.

• DHS sees decreased apprehensions in participating sectors as a sign that the program is working. But flows may have moved. Apprehensions in the San Diego sector — not part of Operation Streamline — increased 14 percent from 2006 to 2008.

KJ