Justice Department to hire 20 prosecutors for border areas
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Justice Department to hire 20 prosecutors for border areas
July 31, 2006 03:14 PM PDT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales outlined plans Monday to add 20 federal prosecutors to handle only immigration-related offenses and five others to target drug trafficking in states along the border with Mexico.
The new assistant U.S. attorneys will work in border areas of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to address human smuggling, illegal entry into the United States and document fraud, and to target employers who hire illegal immigrants.
The program also will include five new prosecutors, one in each of the five federal law enforcement districts along the border, under the Justice Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, targeting drug trafficking organizations.
Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security plans to identify lawyers who will be designated as special assistant U.S. attorneys, responsible for prosecuting immigration offenses.
"As a nation of laws, it is important that those who cross our borders illegally or smuggle drugs are prosecuted swiftly and fairly," Gonzales said. "These new prosecutors will help ensure that our immigration and drug laws are aggressively enforced."
Gonzales said in the past six years, the Justice Department has boosted the number of federal prosecutors along the Mexican border by 29%, to 561.
During the same span, he said that immigration prosecutions have increased about 40%, and that about 30% of all new criminal cases involve immigration crimes.
That makes immigration the largest category of cases addressed by federal prosecutors. Gonzales said last year, more than 95% of immigration prosecutions led to convictions.
Earlier Monday in Santa Fe, Gonzales said the Bush administration remains hopeful that Congress, despite election year pressures, will agree on comprehensive immigration legislation this year.
"I wouldn't say that we've given up. Quite the contrary," Gonzales said.
Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat and the nation's only Hispanic governor, expressed support for legislation that offers a shortcut to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States.
Comprehensive legislation also should include additional resources, such as more agents and electronic sensors to tighten border security.
Gonzales agreed those were important elements for legislation but said the administration hasn't endorsed a specific measure in Congress.
Richardson and Gonzales also addressed a conference of the National District Attorneys Association.
Gonzales, in his speech, focused on federal efforts to crack down on the exploitation and abuse of children by sexual predators using the Internet.
Richardson told the prosecutors he was worried Congress wouldn't act on immigration legislation this year because of election year divisions.
Associated Press Writer Barry Massey in Santa Fe contributed to this report.
