Attorney General Says "Zero Tolerance" for Illegal Border Crossings

The announcement instructs all U.S. attorneys in the relevant districts to prosecute every violator of the federal law...

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, last week, announced in a memo that there would be "zero tolerance" for those caught crossing the U.S. border illegally. "...[I]llegally entering this country will not be rewarded, but will instead be met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice," said Sessions in a statement. 

The Washington Free Beacon has more

The new memo instructs all U.S. attorneys in the relevant districts to prosecute every violator of the federal law which bars improper entry by an alien individual, as opposed to selectively prosecuting only criminal or repeat offender cases. In other words, attorneys are instructed to prosecute even first-time, non-violent offenders, a policy which the Obama administration initially followed before shying away in later years.

Sessions's new order comes just a day after the Department of Homeland Security announced that attempted illegal entries along the southwestern border have increased notably over the past month. Attempted illegal crossing rose 37 percent in March as compared to February, and 203 percent comparing March 2018 to March 2017. (Notably, March 2017 marked the second lowest point of illegal immigration in the past five years.)

Zero tolerance practices, Sessions claimed in his memo, have led to a reduction in attempted illegal entry. In support of this analysis, he pointed to Operation Streamline, a zero-tolerance prosecution program begun in 2005.

Analysis from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency suggested that illegal crossers attempted to reenter the United States less frequently when prosecuted under Streamline as opposed to voluntarily departing the country, although the Department of Homeland Security has suggestedthat CBP's analysis was inadequat

1 year, 11 months ago

Governors in Iowa, North Dakota and Alabama join GOP colleagues in banning TikTok for state employees

The Republican governors of three more states have joined the growing number of GOP governors who are banning TikTok among state government employees amid security concerns about the Chinese-owned social media platform

1 year, 11 months ago

Arizona Governor Creates Shipping Container Border Wall

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has had hundreds of double-stacked shipping containers topped with razor wire placed on the state’s border with Mexico

1 year, 12 months ago

Stacey Abrams’s Georgia Nonprofit Could Face Criminal Investigations for Unlicensed Fundraising

New Georgia Project's charity license has lapsed in at least nine states

1 year, 12 months ago

Biden says ‘more important things’ than border visit, despite 59 trips to Delaware, 8 stops for ice cream

Biden has yet to visit southern border despite historic crisis under his watch

1 year, 12 months ago

Governor Kristi Noem delivers annual Budget Address, says the state can afford grocery tax cut

In about thirty minutes of remarks, Governor Kristi Noem laid out her administration would like to see nearly $2.2 billion spent over the course of the next fiscal year and a half.

1 year, 12 months ago

‘A Clear And Present Danger To Its Users:’ South Carolina Gov. Bans State Employees From Using TikTok Amid National Security Concerns

South Carolina became the second state in the union Monday to permanently ban state employees’ electronic devices from using TikTok amid federal officials sounding the alarm that the Chinese-based social media app threatens national security