AP: "Immigration-related Cases Swamp Courts "

4/26 AP story:

Immigration-related cases swamp courts

Immigration-related felony cases are swamping federal courts along the
Southwest border, forcing judges to handle hundreds more cases than their peers
elsewhere. Judges in the five, mostly rural judicial districts on the border
carry the heaviest felony caseloads in the nation. Each judge in New Mexico,
which ranked first, handled an average of 397 felony cases last year, compared
with the national average of 84.

Federal judges in those five districts — Southern and Western Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona and Southern California — handled one-third of all the felonies
prosecuted in the nation's 94 federal judicial districts in 2005, according to
federal court statistics.

While Congress has increased the number of border patrol officers, the pace
of the law enforcement has eclipsed the resources for the court system. Judges
say they are stretched to the limit with cases involving drug trafficking or
illegal immigrants who have also committed serious crimes. Judges say they
need help.

"The need is really dire. You cannot keep increasing the number of
Border Patrol agents but not increasing the number of judges," said Chief Judge
John M. Roll of the District of Arizona.

[...]

During a push to crack down on illegal immigration last fall, Customs and
Border Protection floated a plan for New Mexico that would have suspended the
practice of sending home hundreds of illegal immigrants caught near the border
with Mexico. Instead, these people would be sent to court. The idea, called
"Operation Streamline," was to make it clear that people caught illegally in the
U.S. would be prosecuted. Then New Mexico's federal judges reminded the Border
Patrol that they lacked the resources to handle the hundreds of new defendants
who would stream into the court system every day. "We said, 'Do you realize that
the second week into this we're going to run out of (jail) space?'" Martha
Vazquez, chief judge for the District of New Mexico, recalled telling Border
Patrol chief David Aguilar. "We were obviously alarmed because where would we
put our bank robbers? Our rapists? Those who violate probation?" she said.

[...]

It is estimated more than 1 million people sneak across the
southwestern U.S. border and illegally enter the country every year. In Arizona,
the busiest entry point for illegal immigration, state officials believe almost
4,000 people attempted to enter every day in 2006.

[...]

The Border Patrol has almost 2,800 more agents than the 9,821 it had in
September of 2001. An additional 6,000 National Guard troops have provided
logistical support to the Border Patrol since last May. Congress has made
available more than $1.2 billion for reinforcements, including fences, vehicle
barriers, cameras and other security equipment. Homeland Security officials say
the increased security is working. In Yuma, Bush said that the number of people
apprehended for illegally crossing the southern border into the U.S. has
declined by nearly 30 percent this year. Court officials, however, say they are
in crisis mode trying to deal with all the defendants.

I sure would like to hear more about enforcement at the employer end. It seems clear to me that all the fences and border agents in the world won't be enough if we don't focus more on the demand side of the equation.