U.S. ADDS HELP FOR BORDER PROSECUTION

The federal government announced plans Monday to beef up prosecution
offices in border states to handle immigration-related offenses and
drug trafficking.

"As a nation of laws, it is important that those who cross our borders
illegally or smuggle drugs are prosecuted swiftly and fairly,"
Attorney General Al Gonzales said in prepared statement.

Twenty assistant U.S. attorneys will be divided among five federal law
enforcement districts, including the Southern and Western districts of
Texas.

Those attorneys will focus solely on immigration-related offenses,
such as human trafficking, illegal re-entry and illegal employment of
immigrants. Five more assistant U.S. attorneys, one in each district,
will be added to prosecute drug trafficking.

"We welcome the additional resources," said Nancy G. Herrera of the
U.S. attorney's office in Houston. "Particularly given the increase of
law enforcement presence along the border. There is a need for
additional assets in the United States attorney's offices to handle
cases generated by that law enforcement effort."

But Crystal Williams, deputy director of programs for the American
Immigration Lawyers Association, which represents defense attorneys,
was puzzled by the announcement.

"They're not adding trial attorneys who will go into the immigration
courts," she said. "They're adding prosecutors who will prosecute
immigration matters as a criminal offense rather than as a civil
offense. ... They are not going to be able to deport a single person
more than they are able to deport right now. What they will be doing
is piling on punishments."

Ms. Williams said the announcement "signals [a] change in policy
because previously, the general take was why would we tie up the
federal district courts, the ranks of the prosecutors, the jail space,
for a violation that can be handled by just deporting a person?"

If the additional attorneys help prosecute smugglers, that "could be
very helpful," she said.

But, she added, "it would seem strikingly coincidental that while
Congress is looking at further criminalizing immigration violations,
that the Department of Homeland Security is seeming to try to do the
same."