Prosecutorial Discretion : A Deeper Look at the Numbers

Yesterday’s post on what I called the failure of President Obama’s prosecutorial discretion “policy” received a good amount of attention in social media. Many within the immigration activist community agreed, while others felt that the administration needs more time.

Yesterday, the Immigration Policy Center released a fact sheet giving information about the case-by-case review process and a look at the stats released from the Department of Homeland Security.

Some things to note when looking at the highlights below : how many cases are still being put into removal proceedings especially as the percentage of cases being determined eligible for administrative closure gets lower and lower.

Also it’s important to note that administrative closure does not grant any sort of legal status or allow for legal employment in the United States. Administrative closure is really an indefinite suspension. According to Ben Winograd, Staff Attorney at the American Immigration Council, DHS could ask an immigration judge to reactivate the removal proceeding that had already been started, rather than initiating an entirely new proceeding.

Some highlights from the fact sheet:

Total Cases Reviewed (as of May 29)

	Total Cases Reviewed	Cases Found Eligible for Administrative Closure
All cases	288,361	20,648	7.16%
Non-detained cases	232,181	20,608	8.88%
Detained cases	56,180	40	0.07%

 

Number of new cases placed into deportation : 111,000 new removal proceedings have been initiated since the review began

Total Cases by Period of Review

Period of Review	Total Cases Reviewed	Cases Found Eligible for Administrative Closure
Before March 5	165,471	13,190	7.97%
March 5 – April 16	54,083	3,354	6.20%
April 16 – May 29	68,807	4,104	5.96%
Total	288,361	20,648	7.16%