Dean Johnson Comments on Immigration for Contra Costa Times
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented on the record number of immigration-related criminal cases filed in 2009 for a recent article in the Contra Costa Times. The U.S. Justice Department filed nearly 92,000 immigration-related criminal cases in the federal courts last year, accounting for more than half of all new federal prosecutions in the country in an attempt to crack down on repeat offenders with criminal records.
"It seems to me like we're putting a finger in the dike," said Dean Johnson. "These prosecutions are more a gesture than a meaningful attempt to deal with the immigration problem."
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.