By Anita Gupta, Staff Attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Maria, a Texas resident and loving wife, mother, and grandmother, has resided in the United States for almost 30 years. She has been a green card holder for over 20 years. Her ties to this country are extensive: Her husband, children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings are all US citizens and permanent residents. Put simply, her entire life is here, in Texas.
In 2007, Maria was confronted with a troubling family matter. Struggling to cope, she took some small items from a department store. Despite having no prior criminal history, Maria was arrested and prosecuted for petty theft. This happened a few more times, and instead of receiving the counseling and support she needed to deal with the underlying issues in her life, Maria was arrested, jailed, and prosecuted.
As a result, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated deportation proceedings against her. Maria languished in deportation proceedings for more than three years with her future uncertain and her family living in fear.
Due to the destructive ways our criminal and immigration systems work together, immigrants in our community face deportation every day, often as a result of low-level offenses never intended to have such life shattering consequences for individuals and their families.
This problem hits especially hard in Harris County, which is home to more than 1.2 million immigrants, who make up approximately 25% of the county’s total population and are often targeted by police because of the neighborhood they live in or color of their skin.
ICE has arrested more people in Harris County than any other county in the nation. Moreover, approximately 75% of ICE arrests nationwide are a result of individuals’ contact with the criminal legal system, despite the fact that charges frequently stem from arrests for low-level offenses, such as possession of small amounts of marijuana and petty theft, and often remain pending at the time that ICE begins the deportation process. It’s an inherently unjust, racist system that does not allow for second chances.
The next District Attorney (DA) of Harris County can help change this, and the outcomes for people like Maria, by adopting and expanding policies that decline to prosecute low-level offenses. Harris County would not be the first to do it. The Dallas and Bexar Co DAs announced last year that they will no longer prosecute some low-level offenses, such as certain possession of marijuana, theft, and trespass cases, in recognition that our criminal legal system disproportionately impacts communities of color who often face economic hardship as well.
Last year, DA Kim Ogg announced the expansion of a jail diversion program for defendants with mental health issues who are charged with low-level misdemeanor offenses. She also reworked her pretrial diversion policy so that immigrants charged with certain offenses can access treatment and rehabilitation programs without facing unintended deportation consequences. While these are important and necessary steps for any prosecutor, our community needs more. Advancing innovative criminal justice reforms in Harris County means ensuring that all people, including immigrants, can benefit from programs that address the root causes of their conduct and that don’t cause unintended lifelong consequences. For immigrants, Black people and people of color, the prosecution of low-level offenses can destabilize communities and tear apart families. Along with expanding and reworking diversion programs, the Harris County DA should stop prosecuting low-level offenses altogether.
The Harris County DA should allocate existing resources effectively to address our entire community’s needs, protect our immigrant community from the harsh impacts of the criminal legal system, and stop assembly-line “justice” that puts people like Maria in jail and in the deportation pipeline.
