Harkin: ‘The court got it right’ on immigration prosecutions

If last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling had come a year earlier, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin believes the federal prosecutions that followed May 2008 immigration enforcement action in Postville would have been quite different.

“I am glad that the Supreme Court ruled unanimously last week that undocumented immigrants who use false IDs can’t face charges of aggravated identity theft without proof that they knew they were using people’s real numbers,” the Iowa Democrat said by phone today. “Of course that would have changed a lot of what happened in Postville. At least now we’ve got clarity for prosecutors on a question of law that has divided the lower courts.”

Within 10 days of the immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant, 76 percent of the 389 workers taken into custody by the government had been convicted of criminal wrongdoing. The swift and publicly maligned prosecutions came at the hands of mass-produced plea deals. The immigrants, most of whom spoke little English, were given the option of drawn out court battles on the initial aggravated identity theft charges, which carried a two-year federal prison term, or entering guilty pleas to lesser offenses and being sentenced to five months in prison.

Because the U.S. Department of Justice held that criminal charges against the workers trumped any immigration-related administrative offenses, most signed plea agreements with only the advice of court-appointed criminal defense attorneys and not legal counsel specializing in immigration.

The Supreme Court’s decision effectively stamped out what many feared was becoming a government tactic designed to halt immigrants’ ability to fight for a path to legalized residency. While it didn’t address Postville specifically, or make mention of mass immigration enforcement actions, the ruling has ended government “fast-tracking” of individuals detained in such raids.

“My own view is the court got it right,” Harkin said. “When Congress enacted identity theft statutes, it had in mind criminals that defraud consumers, not undocumented immigrants working illegally who don’t know whether or not they got something that was real or not. We wanted to go after the real criminals.”

Although the high court’s ruling will likely place even more scrutiny on Stephanie Rose, the career prosecutor that Harkin has recommended become the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, he has stated repeatedly that he has “the highest confidence” in Rose’s integrity and ability. Rose was among the many prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office who was called upon to manage the criminal cases launched against the workers by the Justice Department.

Harkin, who will have members of his staff on the ground in Postville on May 12 for the one-year anniversary events, said his thoughts in anticipation of that date have been on comprehensive immigration reform.

“We have to have better immigration laws in this country,” he said. “We’ve got to solve this problem in a very humane and economically viable manner for the country. We just can’t continue to go on as we have been. So, one year later, I’m still thinking that we must get meaningful immigration reform passed.”