united-states criminal-law immigration sentencing
Is illegally crossing the U.S. border a &quot;serious&quot; crime?
<p>First, I'll acknowledge that "serious" is subjective, however there is (probably) consensus that sentences imposed are reflective of the seriousness of a crime.</p>

<p>USAtoday (6-18-18) </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>USA TODAY examined 2,598 written judgments in border-crossing cases filed in federal courts along the border since mid-May. In nearly 70 percent of those cases, migrants pleaded guilty and immediately received a sentence of time served, meaning they would spend no additional time in jail. Another 13 percent were sentenced to unsupervised probation, including a condition that they not illegally re-enter the United States. In both cases, that meant they would immediately be returned to immigration officials to be processed for deportation, leaving them in essentially the same position as if they had not been prosecuted.  <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/21/trumps-zero-tolerance-border-prosecutions-led-time-served-and-10-fee/722237002/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">full article here</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, was there any point (in 84% of these cases) to invest time and effort in a criminal referral and prosecution? Does that suggest that the judges don't think that a serious crime has been committed?  </p>

<p>(Feel free to migrate to Politics if that seems to be the better place for this)</p>

<p>As you said, "serious" is a subjective description of a crime, but most lawyers would probably have the same first reaction when asked to make the distinction: Is it a felony or a misdemeanor? Felonies are objectively more serious because they come with longer sentences, as well as a variety of awful collateral consequences -- lost voting rights, disqualification from gun ownership, etc.</p>

<p>By that standard, unlawful entry into the United States (<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325" rel="nofollow noreferrer">8 U.S. Code § 1325</a>) is not, in most cases, a serious crime. For a first offense, it's a misdemeanor punishable by at most six months in jail. For subsequent offenses, though, it's a felony punishable by up to two years.</p>

<p>I'd agree that the sentences meted out suggest that the judges don't view this offense as a particularly serious one. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it was pointless to prosecute. For instance, the first prosecution enables a harsher sentence if the immigrant lands in front of the judge again, and I'd bet that a fair share of the harsher sentences involved repeat offenders. Also, if you think that being a nation of laws means that we should always enforce every law (or if you at least believe this when it comes to immigrants), then the prosecutions are their own reward.</p>
