“Zero Tolerance” Courtrooms Function As "Factories" Criminalizing Migrants And Seizing Children

Immigration courts in Brownsville, Texas and beyond have adopted a "zero-tolerance" policy for migrants who have crossed the border into the U.S. from Mexico without authorization. 

The majority don't have previous criminal records. Some are asylum-seekers.

A statement from Attorney General Jeff Sessions from May 7, 2018 announced the U.S. government intended to prosecute 100% of unauthorized border crossings at the southwest border.

He [Sessions] added that people who were “smuggling a child” will be prosecuted “and that child will be separated from you as required by law.” In practice, this means that even parents fleeing violence to protect their young children will be deemed smugglers — that is, criminals.

In this story, reporter Debbie Nathan visits courtrooms to witness how immigrants are being convicted and sentenced en mass. Judges' caseloads are, in some cases, six times heavier than usual. It's apparently becoming common practice to separate children from families. 

...Up and down the border this year, from Texas to California, immigrants coming into the United States, even those applying for asylum at ports of entry, have had their children taken from them.

Now, Nathan reports, courtroom proceedings only last for a few minutes. Even courthouse employees have expressed "shock." Public defenders aren't given time to read cases or speak to their clients.

One woman who spoke about her children in open court was from Honduras. “Is my little girl going to go with me when I get deported?” she asked Morgan.

“Your Honor,” interjected Jeff Wilde, director of the Federal Public Defender’s office in Brownsville, “both she and the man next to her have their children with them. They had a credible fear claim [for asylum] … Their children have been separated from them, and I’ve been unable to figure out where their children are at this point.”