Burning Atlanta

All that glitters isn't as it appears. In some area I blogged about, they actually only prosecute about 1 in 10. BUT, even though these measures initially strain the system, if continued the numbers drop as word gets around. "Hey, man. Don't cross there, they'll put you in jail."

Prosecute all of them.

The Border Patrol on Monday will expand its "zero-tolerance" approach, which consists of jailing and prosecuting undocumented immigrants, all the way to the Santa Teresa port of entry, agency officials said Wednesday.

Last month, the Border Patrol started a controversial program called "No Pass," in which every undocumented immigrant caught crossing the border between Mount Cristo Rey and the Paso del Norte Bridge in Downtown El Paso is jailed and prosecuted.

Border Patrol officials said a similar operation called "Lockdown" has existed without publicity since December between Mount Cristo Rey and Sunland Park.

"Lockdown" is the program that will be expanded to the Santa Teresa port of entry Monday, Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero said.

"Since 'No Pass' has been such a success - there has been a 78 percent drop in apprehensions - we decided to expand 'Lockdown' to the Santa Teresa port of entry," Cordero said.

Outside of the zero-tolerance zone, captured migrants are fingerprinted, and if they have no criminal history, can be returned to Mexico within hours without being formally deported or serving jail time.