Published on: Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Attorney General Sessions writes that it is a high priority of the Department of Justice to establish lawfulness in the immigration system, indicating that further guidance and support for executing this priority would be forthcoming in an updated memo. In the initial memo, Sessions focuses on several areas, establishing explicit priorities for prosecuting offenses under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324 (bringing in and harboring certain aliens), 1325 (improper entry by an alien), 1326 (reentry of removed aliens), and 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028A (aggravated identity theft in relation to immigration offenses), 111 (assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers in relation to the administrative and criminal immigration context). Additionally, Sessions indicates that prosecutors should seek at sentencing, to the extent practicable, judicial orders of removal and a term of supervised release consistent with the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Finally, Sessions directs every district to designate, by April 18, 2017, a Border Security Coordinator, responsible for overseeing the investigation and prosecution of the offenses listed above, attending training programs with other Coordinators, providing legal advice and training to AUSAs regarding these offenses, maintaining and routinely reporting prosecution statistics related to these offenses, and convening meetings with representatives from DHS - including ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, CBP, and USCIS. Read the full "Renewed Commitment to Criminal Immigration Enforcement" Memo.