Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity", U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions explained to host Sean Hannity how border security has changed since President Donald Trump took office almost three months ago.
Sessions' directive did not go beyond existing laws, but he said his order "mandates the prioritizations of such enforcement" by USA attorneys.
Immigration offenses make up more than half of all arrests made by federal law enforcement, according to recently released DOJ data. We are going to shut down and jail those who are profiting off this lawlessness - people who smuggle gang members and convicted criminals across the border, and who prey on those who don't know how unsafe the journey can be.
Sessions said the administration will bring more felony prosecutions against immigrants entering the country illegally.
When Sessions was a US senator, he frequently charged that the federal government was not doing enough to address illegal immigration. Sessions said, "Where possible, prosecutors are directed to charge criminal aliens with document fraud and aggravated identity theft-the latter carrying a two-year mandatory minimum sentence".
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday the federal government would take a more aggressive approach to immigration prosecution starting immediately.
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But the main opposition CHP, which led the No campaign, has said it would contest the results. The constitutional reforms were set to grant more power to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
As for enforcement, each federal district has been instructed to have a "border security coordinator" in place by April 18, whose task it will be to oversee the investigation and prosecution of immigration-related crimes. He urged prosecutors to focus on immigration crimes like illegal border crossing, and the smuggling or harbouring of immigrants. Trump said repeatedly that he would crack down on criminal organizations that help drive illegal immigration and seek to deport 2 to 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday will take a tour of the U.S. -Mexico border during a visit to Arizona. Felony prosecutions should also be considered if there is one prior illegal entry conviction and there are aggravating circumstances such as gang membership or a felony criminal history.
Other immigrants apprehended for crossing the border illegally face civil procedures, with deportation the only penalty.
Sessions also announced that the department would add 50 immigration judges to the bench this year, and an additional 75 judges in 2018.
President Donald Trump vowed to stop unauthorized immigration and expel many undocumented people from the country, and he picked an ally in Sessions, who spent much of his Senate career advocating for tougher enforcement. Sessions also vowed to hire 125 immigration judges in order to handle a backlog of cases.
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