Justice Out of Balance

LOS ANGELES — An analysis of federal prosecutions in the last year shows a disturbing trend, write editors of La Opinión. While little attention is being paid to white collar crimes like securities and mortgage fraud, the criminal prosecution of immigrants for entering the country illegally or for illegal reentry are currently the two most common types of cases in the entire U.S. federal justice system. Together, these cases represent 92 percent of federal immigration cases. Immigration-related criminal offenses now represent 54 percent of all federal cases nationally. Even more disturbing, editors write, is the fact that of the more than 91,800 immigration-related offenses, employers were prosecuted in only eight cases. As long as the punishment falls on individual immigrants and not on the employers who attract them with jobs, editors write, it is a formula for failure.