How Immigration Enforcement Is Hurting Law Enforcement

The New York Times reports that federal immigration proscutions doubled last year, while prosecutions for gun trafficking, organized crime and public corruption have plunged.

A senior federal prosecutor who has worked on a wide variety of cases along the border said that the focus on relatively simple immigration prosecutions was eroding morale at United States attorney offices.

“A lot of the guys I work with did nothing but the most complex cases — taking down multigenerational crime families, international crime, drug trafficking syndicates — you know, big fish,” said the prosecutor, who did not want to be identified as criticizing the department he works for. “Now these folks are dealing with these improper entry and illegal reentry cases.” He added, “It’s demoralizing for them, and us.”

HT: Cop in the Hood