Deputizing - and then prosecuting - America's businesses in the fight against illegal immigration

There has been a significant upsurge in the number of federal criminal prosecutions in recent years. In fact, between fiscal years 2000 and 2004, the number of federal criminal cases increased by about one-third.1 This upswing in federal criminal cases was largely fueled by immigration cases.2 Indeed, the number of immigration prosecutions in those four years surged from 16,724 to 37,854, making immigration prosecutions the single largest category of federal crimes, surpassing even drug prosecutions.