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According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a data collection project run out of Syracuse University, the average prison sentence where an "illegal re-entry" was the lead charge was 14 months, compared to 1 month under the "illegal entry" misdemeanor charge. Together, they make up over 90 percent of immigration charges prosecuted criminally, TRAC found.
Under the Obama administration, more immigrants have been charged for "illegal re-entry," and therefore are often jailed at taxpayer expense, than under previous administrations, according to TRAC. Many of these have happened under Operation Streamline, a controversial Border Patrol program that "streamlines" - charging immigrants with criminal convictions by trying up to 40 at once. In some cases, public defenders represent up to 50 immigrants a day, and rarely have more than 30 minutes to explain the process and consequences to their clients.
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