Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-04T09:37:19.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Limits of Discretion: Challenges and Dilemmas of Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Enforcement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Marjorie S. Zatz  and
Nancy Rodriguez
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The history of US immigration policy and practice reflects a series of attempts to address complex political demands and organizational tensions. Yet this complexity has rendered comprehensive immigration reform elusive in recent decades. When legislative action appears impossible, what other avenues are available to confront these challenges? During the first term of the Obama administration, prosecutorial discretion emerged as a key mechanism. This article draws on archival data and interviews with immigration attorneys, advocates, analysts, and policy makers to understand better how prosecutorial discretion is used in immigration policy and practice today, why it came to have such a central role, recent challenges to its use, and what these tensions suggests for sociolegal scholarship on immigration.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , Summer 2014 , pp. 666 - 689
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Abrams, Kerry 2005. Polygamy, Prostitution, and the Federalization of Immigration Law. Columbia Law Review 105:641–716.Google Scholar
American Immigration Lawyers Association and American Immigration Council. 2011. Holding DHS Accountable on Prosecutorial Discretion. November. http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=37615 (accessed August 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Ashcroft, John 2002. Prepared Remarks on the National Security Entry‐Exit Registration System. June 6. Washington, DC: Office of the Attorney General, US Department of Justice. http://www.usdoj.gov/archive/ag/speeches/2002/060502agpreparedremarks.htm (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Banks, Angela M. 2013. The Normative and Historical Case for Proportional Deportation. Emory Law Journal 62:1243–1307.Google Scholar
Batalova, Jeanne, and Mittelstadt, Michelle 2012. Relief from Deportation: Demographic Profile of the DREAMers Potentially Eligible Under the Deferred Action Policy. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute. August. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/FS24_deferredaction.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Bernsen, Sam 1976. Legal Opinion Regarding Service Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion. July 15. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/prosecutorial‐discretion/service‐exercise‐pd.pdf (accessed October 1, 2012).Google Scholar
Bybee, Jay S. 2002. Memorandum for the Attorney General. April 3. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, US Department of Justice. http://www.aclu.org/files/FilesPDFs/ACF27DA.pdf (redacted) (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Calavita, Kitty 1989. The Contradictions of Immigration Lawmaking: The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Law & Policy 11 (1): 17–47.Google Scholar
Calavita, Kitty 1992. Inside the State: The Bracero Program, Immigration, and the I.N.S. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Carroll, Susan 2011. Report: Feds Downplayed ICE Case Dismissals. Houston Chronicle, June 27. http://www.chron.com/news/houston‐texas/article/Report‐Feds‐downplayed‐ICE‐case‐dismissals‐2080532.php (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Chambliss, William J. 1979. On Law Making. British Journal of Law and Society 6:149–171.Google Scholar
Chambliss, William J., and Zatz, Marjorie S., eds. 1993. Making Law: The State, the Law, and Structural Contradictions. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Chavez, Leo R. 2008. The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens and the Nation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Congress of the United States. 1999. RE: Guidelines for Use of Prosecutorial Discretion in Removal Proceedings. Letter signed by twenty‐eight members of the House of Representatives. November 4. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/prosecutorial‐discretion/991104congress‐letter.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Cooper, Bo 1999. INS Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion. October 4. Copy on file with the authors.Google Scholar
Cornyn, John et al. 2010. Letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. October 21. Pages 109–10 of 200 in FOIA request. http://www.scribd.com/doc/58810530/2011‐ICE‐Report‐FOIA‐request (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Cox, Adam B., and Rodríguez, Cristina M. 2009. The President and Immigration Law. Yale Law Review 119:458–547.Google Scholar
Crane, Chris 2011. Vote of No Confidence. Press Release, June 25. Washington, DC: National Council 118—Immigration and Customs Enforcement, American Federation of Government Employees (AFL‐CIO) http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=32801 (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Eagly, Ingrid V. 2013. Criminal Justice for Noncitizens: An Analysis of Variation in Local Enforcement. New York University Law Review 88:1126–1223.Google Scholar
Feere, Jon 2011. ICE Agent's Union Blasts Obama Administration, ICE Director. Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies. http://cis.org/feere/ICE‐union‐discretion‐memo (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Gardner, Martha 2005. The Qualities of a Citizen: Women, Immigration, and Citizenship: 1870–1965. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
González, Daniel 2012. Stats Detail Deportation of Parents with U.S.‐Born Children. Arizona Republic, April 4. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20120404deportation‐stats‐detail‐parents‐american‐born‐children.html (accessed March 8, 2013).Google Scholar
Gould, Jon, and Barclay, Scott 2012. Mind the Gap: The Place of Gap Studies in Sociolegal Scholarship. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 8:323–335.Google Scholar
Harwood, Edwin 1986. In Liberty's Shadow: Illegal Aliens and Immigration Law Enforcement. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.Google Scholar
Hing, Bill Ong 1980. The Ninth Circuit: No Place for Drug Offenders. Golden Gate University Law Review 10 (1): 1–12.Google Scholar
Howard, William J. 2005. Prosecutorial Discretion. October 24. http://www.scribd.com/doc/22092975/ICE‐Guidance‐Memo‐Prosecutorial‐Discretion‐William‐J‐Howard‐10‐24‐05 (accessed August 22, 2012).Google Scholar
Kanstroom, Daniel 2012. Aftermath: Deportation Law and the New American Diaspora. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kmiec, Douglas W. 1989. Memorandum for Joseph R. Davis Assistant Director—Legal Counsel FBI. April 11. Washington, DC: Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice. www.aclu.org/files/images/asset_upload_file438_299070.pdf (accessed December 18, 2012).Google Scholar
Kobach, Kris W. 2005. The Quintessential Force Multiplier: The Inherent Authority of Local Police to Make Immigration Arrests. Albany Law Review 69:179–235.Google Scholar
Kubrin, Charis, Zatz, Marjorie S., and Martínez, Ramiro Jr., eds. 2012. Punishing Immigrants: Policy, Politics and Injustice. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Legomsky, Stephen H. 2007. A New Path of Immigration Law: Asymmetric Incorporation of Criminal Justice Norms. Washington and Lee Law Review 64:469–528.Google Scholar
Lipsky, Michael 1980. Street‐Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Martin, David A. 2012a. A Defense of Immigration Enforcement Discretion: The Legal and Policy Flaws in Kris Kobach's Latest Crusade. Yale Law Journal Online 122:167–186. http://yalelawjournal.org/2012/12/20/martin.html (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Martin, David A. 2012b. Interview with the first author, August 21.Google Scholar
Mayorkas, Alejandro 2012. Comments at Forum: The New Deferred Action Program: Strategies for Success. August 7. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.Google Scholar
Meissner, Doris 2000. Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion. November 17. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice: Immigration and Naturalization Service. Copy on file with the authors.Google Scholar
Meissner, Doris 2012. Interview with the first author, December 6.Google Scholar
Migration Policy Institute. 2012. As Many as 1.76 Million Unauthorized Immigrant Youth Could Gain Relief from Deportation Under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Initiative. August 7. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/2012_08_07.php (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Morton, John 2011a. Civil Immigration Enforcement: Priorities for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens. March 2 (initially released June 30, 2010) http://www.ice.gov/doclib/news/releases/2011/110302washingtondc.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Morton, John 2011b. Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion Consistent with the Civil Immigration Enforcement Priorities of the Agency for the Apprehension, Detention, and Removal of Aliens. June 17. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure‐communities/pdf/prosecutorial‐discretion‐memo.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Morton, John 2011c. Prosecutorial Discretion: Certain Victims, Witnesses, and Plaintiffs. June 17. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/secure‐communities/pdf/domestic‐violence.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Morton, John 2012. Civil Immigration Enforcement: Guidance on the Use of Detainers in the Federal, State, Local, and Tribal Criminal Justice Systems. December 21. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/detention‐reform/pdf/detainer‐policy.pdf (accessed December 24, 2012).Google Scholar
Motomura, Hiroshi 2012. Prosecutorial Discretion in Context: How Discretion is Exercised Throughout Our Immigration System. April. Washington, DC: Immigration Policy Center, American Immigration Council.Google Scholar
Motomura, Hiroshi et al. 2012. Executive Authority to Grant Administrative Relief for DREAM Act Beneficiaries. Letter to President Barack Obama signed by ninety‐five law professors. May 28. Copy on file with the authors.Google Scholar
Myers, Julie I. 2007. Prosecutorial and Custody Discretion. November 7. Copy on file with the authors.Google Scholar
Napolitano, Janet 2012. Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion with Respect to Individuals Who Came to the United States as Children. June 15. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security. http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/s1‐exercising‐prosecutorial‐discretion‐individuals‐who‐came‐to‐us‐as‐children.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2012. 2012 Immigration Related Laws and Resolutions in the States (January 1–June 30, 2012). http://www.ncsl.org/issues‐research/immig/2012‐immigration‐related‐laws‐and‐resolutions.aspx (accessed March 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Newton, Lina 2008. Illegal, Alien, or Immigrant: The Politics of Immigration Reform. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Ngai, Mae 2004. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Pew Hispanic Center. 2013. A Nation of Immigrants: A Portrait of the 40 Million, Including 11 Million Unauthorized. January 29. http://www.pewhispanic.org/files/2013/01/statistical_portrait_final_jan_29.pdf (accessed March 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Phillips, Susan D., Cervantes, Wendy, Lincroft, Yali, Dettlaff, Alan J., and Bruce, Lara, eds. 2013. Children in Harm's Way: Criminal Justice, Immigration Enforcement, and Child Welfare. January. Washington DC: Sentencing Project and First Focus. http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/cc_Children%20in%20Harm's%20Way‐final.pdf (accessed July 14, 2013).Google Scholar
Preston, Julia. 2013. Single‐Minded Mission to Block an Immigration Bill. New York Times, June 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/us/for‐chris‐crane‐a‐quest‐to‐block‐an‐immigration‐bill.html?pagewanted=all (accessed August 12, 2013).Google Scholar
Rabin, Nina. 2011. Disappearing Parents: A Report on Immigration Enforcement and the Child Welfare System. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. http://sirow.arizona.edu/sites/sirow.arizona.edu/files/disappearing_parents_report_final.pdf (accessed June 9, 2012).Google Scholar
Rabin, Nina. 2013. Victims or Criminals? Discretion, Sorting, and Bureaucratic Culture in the U.S. Immigration System. Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 13–38. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2310125 (accessed November 11, 2013).Google Scholar
Roseborough, Teresa Wynn 1996. Memorandum Opinion for the U.S. Attorney South District of California. February 5. Washington, DC: Office of the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, US Department of Justice. www.justice.gov/olc/immstopo1a.htm (accessed December 18, 2012).Google Scholar
Sandweg, John 2013. Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities. April 23. Washington, DC: US Department of Homeland Security: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/detention‐reform/pdf/parental_interest_directive_signed.pdf (accessed November 3, 2013).Google Scholar
Sklansky, David A. 2012. Crime, Immigration, and Ad Hoc Instrumentalism. New Criminal Law Review 15 (2): 157–223.Google Scholar
Smith, Lamar, and Aderholt, Robert B. 2011. Letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. July 5. http://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/prosecutorial‐discretion/110705smith‐aderholt.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Stith, Kate, and Koh, Steve Y. 1993. The Politics of Sentencing Reform: The Legislative History of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Wake Forest Law Review 28:223–290.Google Scholar
Stumpf, Juliet 2009. Fitting Punishment. Washington and Lee Law Review 66:1683–1741.Google Scholar
Toch, Hans 2012. Cop Watch: Spectators, Social Media, and Police Reform. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse. 2013. Immigration Court Cases Closed Based on Prosecutorial Discretion. http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/prosdiscretion/compbacklog_latest.html (accessed August 12, 2013).Google Scholar
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). 2013. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/All%20Form%20Types/DACA/daca‐13‐8‐15.pdf (accessed November 3, 2013).Google Scholar
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (ICE). 2012a. Deportation of Parents of U.S.‐Born Citizens: Fiscal Year 2011 Report to Congress, Second Semi‐Annual Report. March 26. http://www.scribd.com/doc/87388663/ICE‐Deport‐of‐Parents‐of‐US‐Cit‐FY‐2011‐2nd‐Half (accessed October 13, 2012).Google Scholar
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (ICE). 2012b. FY 2012: ICE Announces Year‐End Removal Numbers, Highlights Focus on Key Priorities and Issues New National Detainer Guidance to Further Focus Resources. December 24. http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1212/121221washingtondc2.htm (accessed December 24, 2012).Google Scholar
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (ICE). 2012c. Removal Statistics. http://www.ice.gov/removal‐statistics/ (updated December 21, accessed December 24, 2012).Google Scholar
Vanison, Denise A., Bacon, Roxana, Rogers, Debra A., and Neufeld, Donald n.d. Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/memo‐on‐alternatives‐to‐comprehensive‐immigration‐reform.pdf (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Varsanyi, Monica W., ed. 2010. Taking Local Control: Immigration Policy Activism in U.S. Cities and States. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Wadhia, Shoba S. 2010. The Role of Prosecutorial Discretion in Immigration Law. Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal 9:243–299.Google Scholar
Wessler, Seth Freed 2011. U.S. Deports 46K Parents with Citizen Kids in Just Six Months. Colorlines. November 3. http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/11/shocking_data_on_parents_deported_with_citizen_children.html (accessed October 13, 2012).Google Scholar
Wessler, Seth Freed 2012. Nearly 205K Deportations of Parents of U.S. Citizens in Just Over Two Years. Colorlines. December 17. http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/12/us_deports_more_than_200k_parents.html (accessed December 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Wishnie, Michael J. 2012. Immigration Law and the Proportionality Requirement. UC Irvine Law Review 2:415–452.Google Scholar
Zatz, Marjorie S., and Smith, Hilary 2012. Immigration, Crime and Victimization: Rhetoric and Reality. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 8:141–159.Google Scholar

Cases Cited

Bowe v. INS, 597 F.2d 1158 (9th Cir. Feb. 1979).Google Scholar
Crane v. Napolitano, 3:12‐cv‐03247‐O (N.D. Tex., filed Aug. 23, 2012).Google Scholar
INS v. St. Cyr, 229 F.3d 406, 533 U.S. 289 (2001).Google Scholar
Nicholas v. INS, 590 F.2d 802 (9th Cir. Feb. 1979).Google Scholar
Padilla v. Kentucky 130 S. Ct. 1473, 559 U.S. (2010).Google Scholar
Reno v. American‐Arab Anti‐Discrimination Committee, 119 F.3d 1367, 525 U.S. 471 (1999).Google Scholar

Statutes Cited

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub. L. No. 104–132, 110 Stat. 1214.Google Scholar
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), Pub. L. No. 104–208, 110 Stat. 3009‐546.Google Scholar
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), Pub. L. No. 99–603, 100 Stat. 3359.Google Scholar