AUSTIN -- In April, the Department of Homeland security was directed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for those who crossed the border illegally.
We have several international bridges along the U.S.-Mexico border, 28 crossings are in Texas.
Anyone who crosses between these ports of entry breaks federal law. It's a misdemeanor.
Under the policy, anyone who crosses illegally will be prosecuted criminally, even if they claim asylum.
The punishment for a first-time offender with no criminal history can be up to six months in prison.
Most of the cases reviewed by the KVUE Defenders on Monday showed the punishment as “time served” and a $10 fine.
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When a parent is selected for prosecution, they are transferred into U.S. Marshals Service custody. This means they go to jail and wait for their first day in court.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says the DHS has a responsibility to make sure the children are in proper care and not in the hands of traffickers. So, DHS turns the children over to the Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. The children are classified as "unaccompanied."
In the custody of ORR, the children can be placed with another family in the U.S. or go to another facility. Read about what ORR calls “loopholes” here.
Nielsen equates this to a U.S. parent getting busted for a crime and being separated from their children.
Read the Zero Tolerance Immigration Prosecutions – Family Fact Sheet here.
Read the DHS Zero-Tolerance Policy here.