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Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday set a stark contrast between the Trump Administration's approach to illegal immigration and its predecessors at a ceremony attended by 44 new immigration judges .
"As we work to restore the rule of law in our immigration system, we will send a clear message to the world that illegal practices of the past are over," Sessions told a rally at the Executive Office. "The world will know what our rules are, and many of them will no longer undertake this dangerous journey."
Sessions said his department now has "the most active immigration judges in history" and has designated the goal of a 50% increase in immigration judges in office since President Trump's inauguration . According to the Government Accountability Office, there were 289 judges by the end of fiscal 2016, just before the start of the Trump administration. There are now 397, including the 44 sworn in, said the Department of Justice.
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He also stressed his responsibility as Attorney General in the application of the law on immigration and naturalization. "It is perfectly legitimate, moral and decent for a country to have a legal immigration system and to enforce the system it adopts," he said. "No great, prosperous nation can have both a generous welfare system and open borders. Such a policy is both radical and dangerous. It must be rejected from the outset, "he said. "The INA is not perfect, but it clearly states a rational immigration system that tells our officers and judges who to be admitted, how much and under what circumstances."
The sessions added: "The position you hold is not a position from 9 am to 5 pm, it is a professional position. By assuming this vital role, I hope you will be creative and inventive to handle a large case volume. I do not apologize for expecting you to perform at a high level effectively and efficiently.
The Ministry of Homeland Security, the Attorney General noted, is seeking to return 100% of the illegal borders to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution in federal courts. "Our American lawyers pursue more than 90% of the cases referred to us. This is an increase of two to three – and this has a deterrent effect, "said Sessions.
The sessions also criticized the Obama administration's greater tolerance of asylum seekers, promising that under Trump's "zero tolerance" approach to border number of illegal aliens and the number of A virtuous cycle will be created, rather than a vicious circle of expansion of illegality. "
As of July 31, the backlog of immigration court cases was 746,049, according to the Immigration Report of the Syracuse University Transaction Registry. According to the National Association of Immigration Judges, the proposed budget for next year should bring to 459 to 484 judges.
According to the Association, which also criticizes Sessions' approach, it will be necessary to double the current number of judges to cope with the increase in the backlog. "We obviously have a lot of concerns about the tone and context of what the Attorney General said," Immigration Judge Ashley Tabaddor, chairman of the group, said. Executive Government.
"This underscores the need to transfer immigration from the Ministry of Justice, a prosecution agency, to a truly independent tribunal," she said. "The Attorney General is once again acting as the nation's prosecutor, highlighting the attempt by the Attorney General to impose on a judicial system that is supposed to be an impartial arbiter. "
In addition, she said that Sessions "makes it clear that it places quality on quality. He wants maximum production from the judges, "but he encourages them to be imaginative in ways that" he does not seem to like in any other part of our job, "Tabaddor said.
"He never mentions due process, but puts forward his preconceptions about lawyers in court and the people they represent, actively involving them in the violation of the integrity of the law," she said. declared. These abuses of the process, she added, are not something that judges can bring into the courtroom.
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