Justice Department Strengthens Efforts to Tackle Human Smuggling and Immigration-Related Offences

           On May 31, 2004, the Justice Department announced a plan to strengthen its attack on human smuggling operations and to further bolster immigration-related prosecutions.^[1]  The Department’s plan is commensurate with President Biden’s recent Executive Action that aims to reduce the number of those who may earn asylum when the volume of migrants at the border is sufficiently high.  Such measures have been anticipated ever since House Republicans first declined to pass a bipartisan immigration bill and border-crossings reached record levels in December of 2023.