"Zero Tolerance" in Laredo; all Arizona next?
The "normal" routine on the U.S.-Mexico border (if anything can be called normal there) is for visa-less border crossers to be fingerprinted, photographed, and immediately shipped back across the line by the Border Patrol.
But based on pilot projects in the Del Rio sector of South Texas and elsewhere, "Operation Streamline" just launched in Laredo - one of the busiest ports of entry in the world. Under this "zero tolerance" program, all crossers, without exception, are charged with the misdemeanor crime of illegal entry in federal district court. Most plead guilty, serve some time in a federal penitentiary, and then get deported. Repeat offenders get hit with felony charges and even more time.
And now Arizona is looking at getting into the game.
Links are to stories by MICHAEL RILEY in the Denver Post, DAVID McLEMORE in the Dallas Morning News, and SEAN HOLSTEGE in the Arizona Republic.