Justice Department Expands Efforts to Dismantle Human Smuggling Operations and Support Immigration Prosecutions

Late last week, the Biden administration announced plans to increase criminal prosecutions for immigration violations at the border.  “Ahead of the third anniversary of the establishment of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Justice Department , , , ay announced additional efforts to dismantle human smuggling operations and increase accountability for those who violate our immigration laws.”

“We are alarmed and deeply disappointed to see the Biden administration signal an increase in reliance on policies that are not only racist in their origin, but also in their current impact,” said Sirine Shebaya, Executive Director of the National Immigration Project. “Criminally prosecuting individuals for immigration violations only fuels the mass incarceration of Black and brown people, wastes government resources, and tears families apart. This announcement also comes at a time when the Biden administration continues to narrow asylum and family reunification pathways, increasingly forcing people into dangerous migration channels. We urge the Biden administration to instead live up to the promises it made to advance racial justice by ending these prosecutions altogether and shifting its efforts and resources toward providing humane solutions at the border.”

According to the Sothern Poverty Law Center, the criminal immigration statutes have explicitly racist and anti-Mexican origins.  

“The decision by this administration to criminalize migrants—many of whom are fleeing harm—is deeply disturbing and misguided,” said Sarah M. Rich, senior supervising attorney, and interim senior policy counsel at the SPLC. “We have witnessed how such prosecutions can be weaponized to separate and traumatize immigrant families. Prosecuting people seeking safety in the U.S. for these immigration violations will lead to more Black and Brown people being incarcerated at the expense of immigrant families and communities.” 

“We call on the Biden administration to instead adopt a humane and welcoming immigration framework that centers our values as a nation that welcomes immigrants,” concluded Rich. 
 

KJ