美司法部长塞申斯宣布对非法入境“零容忍”政策

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday announced a "zero-tolerance" policy for illegal entry into the United States, instructing all federal prosecutors along the southern border to prioritize the prosecution of criminal immigration cases referred to by the Department of Homeland Security.

In a memo released on Friday, Sessions urged U.S. Attorneys in the border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, "to adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy for all offenses referred for prosecution" under laws that make it a crime to enter the United States without proper documents.

"This zero-tolerance policy shall supersede any existing policies," Sessions wrote. "If adopting such a policy requires additional resources, each office shall identify and request such additional resources."

In making the announcement, Sessions cited Department of Homeland Security data released Thursday showing a 203 percent increase in illegal border crossings from March 2017 to March 2018 and a 37 percent increase from February to March of this year -- the largest month-to-month rise in seven years after period when crossings had fallen off.

The announcement came a day after President Donald Trump said he would deploy 2,000 to 4,000 National Guard troops to secure the border.

Trump said he would keep the troops there until a border wall is built to keep out illegal border crossers.

But his administration is continuing to work with governors of the four border states on deals that would allow the Guard to be deployed. The National Guard is a force of reserve soldiers under the auspices of the states.

塞申斯在星期五公布的备忘录中敦促亚利桑那、加利福尼亚、新墨西哥和德克萨斯四个边界州的联邦检察官对依照有关法律而交送起诉的所有罪行，“立即采取零容忍政策”。这些法律把未持适当文件而入境美国视为犯罪。

塞申斯写道：“这项零容忍政策须优于任何现行政策。如果采取这样的政策需要额外资源，各办公室须指明并索取这样的额外资源。”

塞申斯宣布这项决定时，引用了国土安全部星期四公布的数据。数据显示，2017年3月到2018年3月，非法越境上升了203%，从今年2月到3月，这一数字上升了37%，在非法越境减少了一段时期后，这是七年来最大的单月增幅。

在塞申斯宣布这一决定的一天前，川普总统说，他将派遣2千到4千名国民警卫队员，保护美墨边界。

川普说，在防堵非法移民入境的界墙建起之前，他会让这些部队一直留在那里。

但是川普政府仍在继续与四个边界州的州长谈判，以达成允许部署国民警卫队的协议。国民警卫队是美国军队的预备役组成部分，平时由各州指挥。