Decriminalize Immigration

Immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are increasingly targeted for harsh criminal penalties and detention without due process, fueling mass incarceration and tearing apart families and communities.

A series of unjust laws target both newly arrived migrants who are seeking protection in the United States and long-time community members who have endured mistreatment and racial profiling in the criminal legal system.

• Sections 1325 and 1326 of the U.S. Code make it a federal crime to enter or reenter the U.S. without authorization. The most prosecuted federal crime in the United States, these laws funnel people into the criminal legal system for simply crossing the border.
• Immigration laws enacted in 1996 create a system of “double punishment,” meaning that once immigrants with convictions complete their criminal cases and serve their sentences in U.S. prisons and jails, they can also face deportation without a hearing or lengthy immigration detention.

These laws dehumanize immigrants and harm all of our communities.

Immigration prosecutions devastate families and communities by detaining and deporting people with minimal due process protections and without consideration for their long-standing ties to the United States. Black and Brown communities are disproportionately affected due to racial profiling and discriminatory policing practices in the criminal legal system which lead to disproportionately harsh immigration penalties for people who are not U.S. citizens.

Immigration prosecutions also funnel billions of tax dollars to private prison companies that profit from incarcerating people for immigration convictions and during deportation proceedings.

There is another way.

The National Immigrant Justice Center has represented people caught in these legal traps for many years. Working in partnership with immigrant and civil rights advocates and directly impacted communities, we continue to call on the U.S. government to end prosecutions for entry and reentry into the United States, and ensure that all members of the community have access to due process and equal justice.