AP: Immigrant Smugglers Avoid Prosecution

[Eugene]

Immigrant Smugglers Avoid Prosecution

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
The Associated Press
Friday, May 19, 2006; 11:02 AM

SAN DIEGO -- The vast majority of people caught smuggling immigrants across the border
near San Diego are never prosecuted for the offense, demoralizing the agents making
the arrests, according to an internal Border Patrol document obtained by The Associated
Press.

"It is very difficult to keep agents' morale up when the laws they were told to uphold
are being watered-down or not prosecuted," the report says.

The report offers a stark assessment of the situation at a Border Patrol station
responsible for guarding 13 miles of mountainous border east of the city. Federal officials
say it reflects a reality along the entire 2,000-mile border: Judges and federal attorneys
are so swamped that only the most egregious smuggling cases are prosecuted.

<snip>

The report raises doubts about the value of tightening security along the Mexican border.
President Bush wants to hire 6,000 more Border Patrol agents and dispatch up to 6,000 National
Guardsmen. He did not mention overburdened courts in his Oval Office address Monday on
immigration.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051900576.html