A group of 70 former U.S. Attorneys sent Attorney General Jeff Sessions a letter on Tuesday morning requesting that Sessions end his “dangerous, expensive” “zero tolerance” policy, which they claim is “inconsistent with the values of the institution in which we served.”
The bipartisan group of former U.S. Attorneys, led by Preet Bharara from the Southern District of New York, argued the policy deviates from previous norms enacted by Republican and Democratic administrations and ignores the past precedent of maintaining a balance between “effective enforcement and deterrence with humanity and compassion,” the letter said.
“This balanced approach is especially critical when we are faced with persons seeking entry who may be eligible under established U.S. laws for the protection of asylum, as they flee persecution, horrific violence, or danger in their home countries,” they said.
According to the former prosecutors, the policy — which mandates the arrest of anyone caught entering the U.S. illegally — is a waste of dire resources as well, given the punishment for the misdemeanor offense of illegal border crossing is at most a year in prison.
They also argued that the law doesn’t mandate family separation. Under Sessions’ policy, anyone caught crossing the border is arrested and criminally charged. If they have children, the kids are separated from their parents while the adults meander their way through the immigration court system. The inhumane separation of families has received significant media attention in recent days as Trump administration officials double-down on their defense that the policy should work to deter illegal immigration.
“Collectively, as former United States Attorneys, we have prosecuted tens of thousands of cases involving far more serious crimes than misdemeanor illegal entry offenses. And even in those far more serious cases, decisions involving the separation of children from their parents were made with extraordinary caution, and only after an evaluation of the specific circumstances of a particular case,” the letter said. “Today, by contrast, your Zero Tolerance policy has produced a tragic and unsustainable result, without taking into account each family’s specific circumstances. Under your policy, families and children are greeted with unexpected cruelty at the doorstep of the United States, instead of with relief or asylum in the greatest country in the world. Until now, no Republican or Democratic administration, nor any prior Attorney General, has endangered children in order to deter illegal entry.”
Read the full letter here.
The public objections of 70 Ex-U.S. Attorneys will only reinforce in Trump’s mind the correctness of his policy.
~Virtual Standing Ovation~
Thank you to each of those who signed on to this, and for Preet Bharara for writing/spearheading this.
I believe you are quite right – and I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, Spankee’s “damn the torpedos, full speed ahead” stance on this will very likely have a palpable positive-for-Dems effect in November. On the other hand, the horrors of this policy are far too great a price to pay to win.
Yes, I know. The Goopers wouldn’t shy away for a second – their “winning at any (human) cost” attitude has inured them to suffering. We Dems, sadly, are soft and squishy and refuse to win on the backs of our fellow human beings. It’s depressing that having a heart means losing. (Sorry, very bummed about all of this.)
In general, this policy and behavior are what makes Trump existentially dangerous to all life: he is always right, Everyone else is wrong. Only one person is right on the entire planet: him. Incredible the extent to which his self-centered ego is destructive to everything, everything.
A sizable proportion of GOPers would line up both the kids and their parents against a wall and have them shot. At its core this is pure racism and xenophobia.
We should all look forward to the day caucasians are in the minority in this nation. And I say that as a caucasian. The only event that is going to bend whites toward compassion and tolerance will be electoral defeats. Once a majority of Congress is comprised of blacks, Hispanics, progressive women, Muslims, Asians and the like we’ll see true change in the land. Until that day racism and xenophobia will rule the day. Most of us will be dead and buried by the time that happens, but certainly sometime around 2075 caucasians will be getting a taste of what they’ve been dishing out for 500 years.