[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 281 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 281

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
success of Operation Streamline and the importance of prosecuting first 
                     time illegal border crossers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2015

Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Duncan of Tennessee, 
  Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Schweikert, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Olson, Mr. 
    Kelly of Pennsylvania, Mr. Brooks of Alabama, Mr. Rice of South 
Carolina, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Mulvaney, Mr. Nugent, Mr. Weber of Texas, 
Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Barletta, and Mr. Jody 
   B. Hice of Georgia) submitted the following resolution; which was 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
    Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
success of Operation Streamline and the importance of prosecuting first 
                     time illegal border crossers.

Whereas the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector has long grappled with the crossing of 
        illegal aliens and has seen illegal traffic decline precipitously from 
        the early 2000s to the present;
Whereas a combination of increased manpower, technology implementation, and the 
        delivery of appropriate consequences have resulted in gains in border 
        security in the Yuma Sector;
Whereas a key to the success in the Yuma Sector has been the implementation of 
        Operation Streamline, a program established in 2005 that was described 
        by former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as 
        ``a DHS partnership with the Department of Justice, . . . a 
        geographically focused operation that aims to increase the consequences 
        for illegally crossing the border by criminally prosecuting illegal 
        border-crossers.'';
Whereas known for its ``zero-tolerance'' approach, the Yuma County Sheriff's 
        Office cites 100 percent prosecution of illegal border crossers as a 
        shared goal of a partnership including Federal, State, and local law 
        enforcement agencies;
Whereas among the various consequences delivered to illegal crossers by the 
        Department of Homeland Security, Operation Streamline is associated with 
        a recidivism rate that is well below average and has seen a steady 
        decrease in recidivism in recent years;
Whereas the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona will 
        reportedly no longer be prosecuting those apprehended crossing the 
        border illegally for the first time; and
Whereas according to the Sheriff of Yuma County, Operation Streamline ``had a 
        deterrent effect in Yuma County, which gained a reputation as an area to 
        avoid crossing into because if caught, you were assured to go to court 
        and possibly face penalties'', but now the program ``has been severely 
        diluted.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) gains made in border security in the Yuma Sector and 
        positive trends in recidivism rates are of critical importance 
        to those living and working in the border region and to the 
        Nation as a whole;
            (2) refusing to prosecute first time illegal border 
        crossers under Operation Streamline will jeopardize border 
        security gains;
            (3) the border security steps that have led to some measure 
        of improvement on the border, such as the historical 
        implementation of Operation Streamline, should be preserved; 
        and
            (4) the executive branch should immediately remove any 
        issued or related prohibition, policy, guidance, or direction 
        to cease prosecuting first time illegal border crossers under 
        Operation Streamline.
                                 <all>