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Under Sessions, the Justice Department is likely to support states that give local police authority to enforce immigration laws. In 2012, after the Obama administration objected, the Supreme Court struck down Arizona’s so-called “papers, please” law on the grounds that the state was trying to enforce federal immigration laws.
Sessions also can instruct federal prosecutors to be more aggressive in filing criminal charges against migrants for illegal entry and reentry after deportation, convictions that can speed up deportation orders.
In recent years, the Obama administration eased such prosecutions and focused instead chiefly on deporting individuals believed to be involved in human smuggling, gang activities and other crimes.
Prosecutions of immigration violations dropped by 6% this year, according to an analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
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