Telling us what we already knew about immigration

It is commonly known among immigration lawyers and advocates that being undocumented does not make a person a criminal. This has always been so. Interesting that so many people think otherwise. The WP presents this information as if it was a surprise. Thank goodness a U.S. Attorney who would be considered official representative of our government has verified what we already knew. See dreamacttexas post "Not a Crime: Undocumented Immigration is a Civil Offense" from December 20, 2007.

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Top federal prosecutor in NJ: Being undocumented not a crime

The Associated Press
Monday, April 28, 2008; 4:16 PM

DOVER, N.J. -- New Jersey's top federal prosecutor told a Latino group it's a civil offense _ not a crime _ for immigrants to live in the country without proper documentation, a comment that a spokesman later said was aimed at a narrowly worded question.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, widely considered to be a leading GOP contender for governor next year, spoke Sunday in response to a question on illegal immigration at an open forum that grew heated. He said living in the U.S. without immigration paperwork is "an administrative matter" that federal immigration officials are supposed to address through deportation.

"Don't let people make you believe that that's a crime that the U.S. attorney's office should be doing something about," Christie was quoted as saying in The Star-Ledger of Newark for Monday editions. "It is not."

Christie stressed that lacking immigration documents is not a crime unless the person was previously deported...

for complete WP/AP article click here

Saving the U.S. from the S.A.V.E. Act - part III

Statistics that influenced recommendations for the S.A.V.E. ACT came from the data provided by the 2006 Federal Court Management Statistics which are issued by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

As we know, after the Gonzalez debacle, the U.S. Judicial system is only semi-functional (at best) - what type of competency can we expect in these matters? There is also doubt behind the validity of the information since the Bush Administration is not known for it's accuracy.


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HB4088

SEC. 305. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) Findings- Based on the recommendations made by the 2007 Judicial Conference and the statistical data provided by the 2006 Federal Court Management Statistics (issued by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts), the Congress finds the following:

(1) Federal courts along the southwest border of the United States have a greater percentage of their criminal caseload affected by immigration cases than other Federal courts.

(2) The percentage of criminal immigration cases in most southwest border district courts totals more than 49 percent of the total criminal caseloads of those districts.

(3) The current number of judges authorized for those courts is inadequate to handle the current caseload.

(4) Such an increase in the caseload of criminal immigration filings requires a corresponding increase in the number of Federal judgeships.

(5) The 2007 Judicial Conference recommended the addition of judgeships to meet this growing burden.

(6) The Congress should authorize the additional district court judges necessary to carry out the 2007 recommendations of the Judicial Conference for district courts in which the criminal immigration filings represented more than 49 percent of all criminal filings for the 12-month period ending September 30, 2006.

for link to Thomas Congressional Report click the title of this post