Second Judge Expected to Join America’s ‘Busiest’
Second Judge Expected to Join America’s ‘Busiest’
On a clear day, Judge Robert C. Brack can see Mexico from his office — the federal courthouse in downtown Las Cruces.
He has sentenced more defendants than any other federal judge in the United States — more than 7,000 defendants over about six years according to a new study from Syracuse University.
That doesn’t necessarily make him the busiest judge, just the one who sentences the most defendants. He says he expected the workload going in.
“The perception shouldn’t be such that I’m out here drowning all by myself. I was asked when I came on whether I wanted to go to Las Cruces or Albuquerque and the fact that anyone even asked me at the time bothers me now because the work was here,” said Brack.
[…]
‘Back then [2003], the policy was Mexican citizens would be allowed 15 voluntary returns before they were actually sentenced. Before they were actually charged with a crime and that policy has changed over time and now they don’t get any returns – they are charged with a crime almost immediately.’ [Emphasis added]
Judge Brack sees the results of his decisions every day.
‘There was in court today a young man, he’s 30 years old and he’s been in the country since he was nine and he has a wife and two children - all United States citizens - and I was sending him back to Mexico. And I put back in quotations because that’s not his home and hasn’t been his home for years. And luckily he has some family back in Mexico still that will help him start over. But he’s starting over as a husband and father without his wife and children and that’s unbelievably tough.’
[…]
Immigration enforcement has become excessively cruel. I hope when reform comes, it can help those already deported, like the man described above. And I hope it comes soon.
There’s audio at the link.