For those who lawfully want to enter the United States the first question is about obtaining a visa – but for many getting one is virtually impossible. That is the heart of the problem for the U.S. immigration system according to a report released this week by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation.
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The paper titled “The Inefficient U.S. Immigration System: A Texas Perspective” examines the breakdowns with the U.S. immigration system and recommends state based solutions.
Katherine Fidler is the author of the report.
OPERATION STREAMLINE:
It was just over ten years ago that Operation Streamline debuted in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector – it’s since been expanded to all federal district courts along the border except for the southern border of California.
Operation Streamline is a controversial approach to dealing with unauthorized immigrants that channels the apprehended into a criminal court system that has been called an assembly line and a kangaroo court.
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The defendants are not given a fair trial or opportunity to defend themselves – that only option is to plead “guilty” – face a one to six month sentence in a special immigration prison and them be deported but now with a criminal record so they could never quality for legal entry or a pathway to citizenship.
The criticisms of Operation Streamline deal with humanitarian and practical issues and are laid out in a new book called “Indefensible: A Decade of Mass Incarceration of Migrants Prosecuted for Crossing the Border.” Published by Grassroots Leadership and Justice Strategies – Bethany Carson is on the contributors to the book.
Bethany Carson is with Grassroots Leadership and Justice Strategies. She is a contributor to their book “Indefensible: A Decade of Mass Incarceration of Migrants Prosecuted for Crossing the Border.” Which explores Operation Streamline.