Thread: Justice Department to hire 20 prosecutors for border areas

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5221015&nav=HMO6

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.

"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.

Gotcha!

He sounds so like Presidente Jorge - 'as a nation of laws.' Wish I had a dollar for everytime the president said that line. What a bunch of bs.

Well, I am glad more prosecutors are being hired. Let's just see if it makes any difference. I'm so skeptical of this administration and that is putting it lightly.

http://www.upi.com

25 more U.S. prosecutors sent to SW border
WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. government said Monday it would deploy two dozen more federal prosecutors on the south western border to ramp up efforts against illegal immigrants.

Twenty assistant U.S. attorneys will be assigned by the Justice Department to the five prosecutorial districts along the south western border, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced at a news conference in New Mexico.

Another five will be assigned -- one to each of the five districts -- as part of the department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, to prosecute drug trafficking organizations on the border.

"We believe an increased chance of prosecution will make illegal crossing less attractive to criminals," said Gonzales.

The news is part of a steady drumbeat of announcements about efforts to enforce immigration laws both at borders and inside the country that the administration has kept up during the debate on stalled immigration reform and border security legislation.

Conservatives in the House GOP have said they will not contemplate the kind of immigration reform package President Bush has called for until they believe the border is secure.

On Friday, for example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced it had held a three day conference in San Antonio, Texas, for its recruiters to discuss how to hire 6000 additional Border Patrol agents by the end of 2008.

The 20 new prosecutors announced Monday will be assigned to the Southern District of Texas, the Western District of Texas, the District of Arizona, the District of New Mexico and the Southern District of California. They will prosecute only immigration crimes including alien smuggling, illegal employment of undocumented aliens, and document fraud. The new hires are funded by a $2 million provision in the recent emergency supplemental appropriation bill.

Originally Posted by Brian503a

http://www.upi.com

25 more U.S. prosecutors sent to SW border

The new hires are funded by a $2 million provision in the recent emergency supplemental appropriation bill.

So have they actually hired anybody yet, or is this just more talk?

If they haven't hired them yet, then the story heading is false because nobody could have been sent to the border.

Yeah right, and Liar Bush said on May 15th there'd be 6000 troops on the Southern border by Aug 1st,and we all see how that has turned out thus far