Townhall.com reports that Department of Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, in his third annual "State of Immigration Address " this month, warned that violent crimes at the US-Mexico border are on the rise. "This fiscal year, 744 incidents of violence have been perpetrated against Border Patrol agents, a 26% increase over the same time last year," declared Chertoff.   

Not limited to Border Patrol, Chertoff further warned of an increase in border violence against US tourists.  "Dozens of US citizens were kidnapped and/or murdered in Tijuana in 2007" in a number Chertoff claims to have increased compared to 2006.  This news coincides with a State Department travel alert released two months prior to Chertoff’s address, which cautions US tourists against increasing violence in Mexican border towns, noting that "criminals have followed and harassed US citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, and Tijuana."  

Despite the grim statistics, Chertoff insists that these estimates are a sign of progress.  "That’s typically what happens as you start to enforce and you make it harder, they start to fight over the shrinking pie…and who gets the best opportunity to exploit what additional space is left," Chertoff said.  "So that’s in some sense, a good sign.  The bad news is it causes a lot of violence and death and it’s created a lot of havoc, particularly in Mexico ."  

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According to new US data, federal law enforcement agencies have increased criminal prosecutions of immigration violators to record levels, The Washington Post reports.  Officials say the threat of prison and a criminal record is a powerful deterrent, one that is helping drive down undocumented immigration along the US-Mexico border.  Federal officials estimate the number of immigrant apprehensions decreased by 20% in 2007, with the figure to drop an additional 15% this fiscal year.  

Operation Streamline, the name of the crackdown program, brings minor charges to virtually every person caught crossing the border without authorization.  During Congressional testimony, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said that Operation Streamline "is a very good program," and plans to expand the program to other parts of the border, as "it has a great deterrent effect."  

The plan has drawn criticism from immigration advocates, who say that the government lacks the resources to sustain the strategy on the border and that the effort is diverting resources from more serious crimes such as drug and human smuggling.  In some instances, there has been so much immigration enforcement funding allocated to the to border enforcement that it is affecting state attorneys’ general ability to perform their duties, and overburdening judges and jailers to contend with countless petty charges against immigrants.  

David Gonzales, US marshal for Arizona , said the program is swamping federal courthouses and jails.  "If [Operation Streamline] was all we were doing, that would be fine.  But we also have to deal with all other federal prisoners in southern Arizona , and all other prisoners federal agencies bring in," Gonzales said.  

Several Arizona officials noted that US prosecutors in Tuscon were so short on resources, they chose not to prosecute a number of marijuana seizures of less than 500 pounds.  "We’re concerned about the misdirection of resources," said Heather Williams, first assistant to the federal public defender of Arizona .  The vast majority of the cases are mere misdemeanor border-crossing cases, she said, "They’re not talking about a drug case, a sex crime, a murder, or assault."   

She also noted that Operation Streamline has tested the limits of the US legal system’s promise of fairness to the accused.  "If we as a US citizen were placed in any other country on the planet, and had to resolve a case in a day that could result in being deported in having a criminal record, we would be outraged, and so would our government," she said.  

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This week, a number of ardent anti-immigration House Republicans held a press conference to announce that they are tired of waiting to see a US-Mexico border fence built, and have begun questioning the Bush administration’s commitment to completing the fence, Newsday reports.  Rep. Peter King (R-NY), author of the original border fencing legislation, and one of the group of congressmen, expressed disappointment with how the current plan has differed from his own legislation.  "It’s not a 700-mile fence.  It’s a 370-mile fence, and the rest are vehicle barriers," King said at a news conference.  

Defending the decision, USCIS spokesman Barry Morrissey said a single-layer fence was simply faster and more efficient to build, and that by adding Border Patrol agents and sensory systems, it could be just as effective as King’s proposed double-layer fence.  Morrissey also said that the portions of double-layer fence that were already built are in the area between San Diego and Tijuana , and there are no plans to build more.   

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The top US immigration enforcement official told a congressional subcommittee last week that the Bush administration intends to disclose more information about the number of immigrants who have died in the network of federal detention centers around the country, The Washington Post reports.  Julie Myers, secretary of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said her agency will report the deaths to a branch of the Justice Department which, currently, publishes statistics on the fatalities, but not the victims’ identities; congressional Democrats have pleaded with ICE to reveal the names and circumstances of foreigners who have died in US custody.  

The requests for expanded victim information comes shortly after a Washington Post in-depth look at the federal detention centers, which discovered that 83 detainees had died since ICE was formed five years ago, and that many sick and mentally ill people have been denied the treatment to which they are entitled.  The study also found medical staff shortages, treatment delays, sloppy record-keeping, poor administrative practices, and cover-ups by employees aware of the poor care.  

ICE officials "are defending the indefensible," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), chairman of the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee.  "Whatever you think about the overall debate on immigration, you are not supposed to kill people who are in custody.  

Homer Venters, a physician at the Bellevue -New York University Program for Survivors of Torture, said ICE’s assertion that detainee deaths fell by 49% from 2006 to 2007 is misleading, noting that the figures ignore the fact that detainees are, on average, spending less time in custody.  Taking the length of stay into account, he testified, the mortality rate during this period increased by 20%.