The U.S. Border Patrol works with the justice system to systematically impose consequences on
illegal border crossers in various ways, depending on the state, judicial district and the Border
Patrol Sector’s capabilities. In certain Sectors, the U.S. Border Patrol worked with law
enforcement and judicial partners to refer the vast majority of those apprehended by agents for
prosecution, which resulted in a significant decrease in illegal activity.
For example, Del Rio Sector - which encompasses 210 miles of the Southwest border –reported a
69 percent decline in apprehensions between FY 2005 and FY 2008, from 68,500 to 20,700 as a
result of Operation Streamline, which was a similar zero-tolerance approach to illegal border
crossers.
However, certain classes of adults have been exempted from prosecution, and that double
standard has enabled an increase in illegal migration across our borders. The Department of
Justice and Department of Homeland Security are effectively eliminating the double standard
which has enabled thousands of illegal migrants to circumvent our immigration laws, while
others are apprehended and removed to their country of origin.
Illegal entry into the United States is a violation of federal law (8 USC 1325). First conviction is
a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum sentence of 180 days incarceration. Any subsequent
offenses may be prosecuted as a felony. An alien, once removed, is subject to a bar to (legal)
reentry of five years for the first removal, 20 years for a second or subsequent
removal and indefinitely if convicted of an aggravated felony. These administrative measures are
pursued against anyone convicted of illegal entry, once their criminal sentences have been served
and they are formally removed from the United States.
Those apprehended will be sent directly to federal court under the custody of the U.S. Marshals
Service, and their children will be transferred to the custody of Health and Human Services’
Office of Refugee Resettlement. The U.S. Marshals will then place the individuals in approved
detention centers during the course of the criminal process and, if convicted, to complete their
sentences. During the prosecutorial process, immigration proceedings will be advanced by ICE
ERO. Upon completion of the criminal proceedings, and a after a finding of removability,
individuals will be returned to their country of origin.