Opinion ID: 2427838
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Border Patrol Program and USAO Resources

Text: The District of Arizona's criminal caseload has grown because the Department of Homeland Security has increased border enforcement, and the United States Attorney's Office has increased its efforts to prosecute these cases along the United States-Mexico border. See Tab D: Administrative Office of the United States Courts: Report on the Impact on the Judiciary of Law Enforcement Activities along the Southwest Border, prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Appropriations (July 2008) (AO Report). Operation Streamline, a program that requires criminal prosecution and imprisonment of all individuals unlawfully crossing the border, eliminated the discretion traditionally reserved by United States Attorney's offices to limit prosecution to immigrants with criminal records or previous illegal border-crossings. Id. at pp. 1-7. This program has led to a burgeoning number of federal criminal prosecutions in all districts bordering Mexico, but the increase has been particularly pronounced in the District of Arizona. In the few years since Operation Streamline commenced, the United States Attorney's Office in Tucson has doubled its number of prosecutors and empaneled a third grand jury in January 2011. The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona reports that it added 42 AUSAs since 2006, and filled eight other AUSA vacant positions. See Tab E: United States Attorney District of Arizona Border Security Fact Sheet June 2010. There are currently 170 AUSAs in the District of Arizona, a 62% increase over the past 10 years. See http://www.justice. gov/usao/az/office_overview.html. There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of U.S. Border Patrol and other federal law enforcement agents in Arizona. Id. In FY 2009, the Border Patrol apprehended approximately 241,000 people in the Tucson Sector and seized well over 1 million pounds of marijuana. Due to this dramatic increase in resources, the USAO was able to investigate and prosecute 3,200 felony and 22,000 misdemeanor illegal immigration cases in FY 2009, in addition to prosecuting other border-related crimes involving drug and firearms smuggling. Id. at p. 1. All Operation Streamline cases resulting from Border Patrol apprehensions in the Tucson Sector (comprised of 262 miles of international border, extending from the Arizona border with New Mexico to the Yuma County line) are heard at the Evo A. DeConcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson. The 2008 AO Report deemed this area the the busiest sector along the entire border. See Tab D: AO Report at p. 6. Presently, Tucson division magistrate judges hear 70 Operation Streamline cases per workday. During Calendar Year 2010, the Tucson Division disposed of 20,066 immigration petty offense cases, of which 16,981 were part of Operation Streamline. In fact, the Department of Justice asked for a funding increase of $231.6 million for FY 2010 to support its immigration enforcement along the southwest border, including Operation Streamline. The DOJ request includes $8.1 million to fund new USAO positions in response to the rising caseload along the U.S.-Mexico border. See U.S. Department of Justice, Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Request (2009), available at http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/2010 factsheets/pdf/safeguardingour-swb.pdf. According to the 2008 AO Report, an additional $100 million was appropriated in FY 2008 to the Department of Justice, including $7 million to hire additional AUSAs and support staff, and in FY 2009, the Department of Justice requested $100 million in new funding for the Administration's Southwest Border Enforcement Initiative, including $8.4 million to hire another 50 AUSAs along the border. See Tab D, AO Report at p. 8. There has been no correlating increase in Article III judgeships, and as noted above, there is a further significant decrease in judicial resources with the three current vacancies.