U.S. District Judge Dan PolsterSubmitted
BRATENAHL, Ohio — Longtime Cleveland federal Judge Dan Polster spent two weeks as a visiting judge at a federal courthouse in Las Cruces, New Mexico, near the U.S.-Mexico board. One thing became clear during his stint: the defendants whose cases he heard for illegally crossing the border weren’t violent criminals.
His assignment in January involved handing down sentences to people who pleaded guilty to entering the U.S. illegally, most which were captured at the border after being turned away before.
“I can tell you, out of the 200 people I sentenced, I did not see a single murderer, a single rapist, a single terrorist,” Polster said. “These are just people who want to be with their family or support their family.”
Polster made his comments Wednesday night while speaking to the civil rights committee of the Anti-Defamation League’s Cleveland branch.
The judge’s stories come as President Donald Trump continues to press for the construction of a wall that would span the full length of the U.S.-Mexico border. He has said, without providing evidence, that Mexico sends its violent criminals — specifically “drug dealers” and “rapists” — to the U.S.
Polster, who has been on the federal bench in 1998 after a long stint in the U.S. Justice Department, focused on the immigration cases he oversaw, but with talk of immigration dominating news cycles and political conversations throughout the nation, the discussion also touched on Trump’s recent comments about the federal judges hearing the case on his executive order banning immigration to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries.
He told the crowd that prosecutors there used a program that allowed for plea agreements with lower sentences if a defendant pleads guilty quickly after being charged.
He said he sentenced more defendants in his two weeks in New Mexico than he likely will for the rest of the year in Cleveland. Many were sentenced to time served, which was usually after spending anywhere between one and four months in jail. They were then deported.
Polster said most of the people who came to America were doing so for two reasons: to make money and to be reunited with their family.
“Not surprisingly, there are many, many people who live in Mexico who have families who are lawfully in the United States. Citizens, lawful residents. Their wives and children,” he said. “The main reason they come here is to be with their family. The same reason any of us would want to move with our family. Who wouldn’t?”
The judge said border security is strong, but it’s clear there needs to be a solution to illegal immigration in the U.S.
He said it has been a problem that has festered over the years, but “it’s not going to go away with one magic silver bullet.”
Polster said he is aware that new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was sworn in Thursday, would likely pursue more forceful prosecutions in the sort of cases Polster presided over during his time in New Mexico.
He warned defendants in those cases how the change in national priorities could affect them.
The judge said, “I can tell you that each person, at the end of the sentence, I said ‘look, I know why you came. I probably would have done the same thing if I were you, but you just cannot do it. The next time, you’re not going to get time served and sent back, it’s likely going to be a long prison sentence. Because it’s clear that this administration, the law’s practices are changing.'”
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