Operation Streamline: Working harder and smarter, securing America's border in southwest Texas

June 7, 2007
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

“Operation Streamline has had a positive impact in Val Verde County. We certainly get fewer calls about people crossing their property, less crime in rural areas, and we’re just not having as much of it as we had at one time. We’re still busy, but not swamped like we were when we were turning them all loose.”

Val Verde County Sheriff A. D’Wayne Jernigan talked with LIVE! from Washington, D.C. as he attended National Police Week ceremonies at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Wednesday (May 16). According to Jernigan, the impact of a 2005 federal thrust to halt the infamous “catch-and-release” approach to processing “Other Than Mexican” (OTM) illegal aliens has improved morale of border officers at all levels, reduced crime rates, and staunched what many see as a pernicious hemorrhage through American borderlands.

Operation Streamline II, announced Dec. 2005 by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Cherthoff, put the federal crosshairs on OTM releases, specifically those in the Del Rio Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. Until then, federal budget limitations and Mexican immigration restrictions prevented the return of illegal immigrants to their homelands, chiefly Central- and South America, through Mexico. Thousands of momentarily “captured” immigrants were given paperwork ordering their court appearance at a future date, and released into the general population of the United States.

Jernigan said that fewer than five percent ever reported as mandated. “I heard that the Brazilian immigrants even called the paperwork their ‘diploma,’” Jernigan said, adding that most OTMs would come looking for a law enforcement officer to arrest them, so they could get their paperwork started for a release, expediting their inland travel. “They would hang around and wait for us to pick them up. We even took them to H-E-B or Western Union where they would get money wired to them from other places, even as far as Boston. Large sums of money, so they could travel,” Jernigan said.

“Before Streamline started, we were having 6,000 to 7,000 people a month dumped into Eagle Pass and Del Rio like this. They’d just go looking for Border Patrol agents so they could be arrested, knowing they would be immediately released. So, we started going to Washington, banging on doors, and we got the rest of the Border Sheriff’s Coalition to go along, too, and we finally got agreement that we’d stop giving them this permit [to enter the U.S.],” said Jernigan. “Governor Perry also had a role in this, encouraging Washington to put a stop to the OTM problem.”

The “permit” was cancelled by Operation Streamline II, according to Alia Moses Ludlum, United States district judge, Western District of Texas. “This is when ‘catch-and-release’ of all illegally entered foreign nationals stopped,” said Ludlum, Monday (May 14). She recalled that Operation Streamline began under former Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Paul Berg. “But at some time, the Department of Homeland Security put the brakes on it, then it got revived when Randy [Randy R. Hill, current chief patrol agent] arrived here,” Ludlum said.

Ludlum explained that, to avoid disparate treatment, the detention of all undocumented immigrants is warranted until their status is known. “We can’t treat Mexican nationals differently than we treat non-Mexican nationals,” Ludlum said. She currently manages an annual docket of more than 1,100 felony cases and 100 civil actions. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Ludlum is known for remarkable multi-tasking abilities on the bench, never missing a beat of what’s happening in her courtroom.

That talent was presaged during her college years, when she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree 24 years ago at Texas Woman’s University. There, Ludlum majored in accounting, and held double minors in computer science and government/history. She completed her Doctor of Jurisprudence at University of Texas, 1986.

Ludlum began her career as a legal researcher, law clerk, and attorney in the Travis County Attorney’s office, until she moved to Del Rio and the federal courts in 1990. Here, she rose through the ranks, from division chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and part-time magistrate, to full-time magistrate judge. Ludlum was sworn into office as district judge for the Western District of Texas, Nov. 18, 2002, and her Feb. 21, 2003 investiture ceremony was a judicial and community celebration at the Del Rio Civic Center. Since then, the workload and strain on the federal courts has soared, but Ludlum squashes any notions that it has spiraled out of control

Operation Streamline II has placed unprecedented demands on all the courts in Ludlum’s sphere of influence. To expedite the processing of the volume of undocumented immigrants now filing –handcuffed – into the federal courthouse, 111 E. Broadway, Ludlum and other judges now face as many as 80 men and women in orange jumpsuits, usually in lines of 15 at a time. “I have the habit of looking at each defendant, and making them answer me,” Ludlum said. As examples, she ascertains whether each person understands the charges against him or her, their rights, and the consequences of a possible sentence.

To relieve stress on the courts, U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, San Antonio, approved the “cross-designation” of special prosecutors from attorneys working for Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The local AUSAs – assistant U.S. attorneys – are handling bigger fish, so other assistance is needed to handle the fallout of thousands of detained immigrants.

According to Ludlum, the impact has descended not only on the courts, but on federal pre-trial services, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the federal public defenders, the federal court clerks’ office, and probation officers. “Our local attorneys here have really stepped into the breach as public defenders,” Ludlum said. “Our local bar is to be commended.”

The information technology office of the U.S. Clerk’s Office in San Antonio is crafting computer programs that Ludlum believes will help. “I’m very computer-oriented,” said Ludlum, “and their efforts could really speed up processing. They’re working on it now, testing it, and when it’s done it can revolutionize how we do things.” Ludlum is also using a “Case Management/Electronic Case Filing” (CM/ECF) program allowing the court system to become nearly “paperless.” “I love this system,” Ludlum enthused.

Jernigan’s office pitched in to handle workloads, too, with a grant from Operation Linebacker, a state- and federally-funded program to reduce serious crime along the border. Jernigan was able to hire an attorney for a year to help with processing undocumented immigrants at the federal courthouse. Operation Linebacker has come under criticism lately, beginning when the El Paso Times reported (May 7, 2007) that the crime-fighting effort is catching immigrants, rather than reducing drug trafficking.

But the focus of Operation Streamline is on immigration, and discovery of drug contraband has accompanied it. According to Ludlum, with the advent of Streamline, drug seizures escalated 300 percent, converting what might have been individual arrests for misdemeanors to felony indictments. If simple misdemeanors for “improper entry” – serving up to six months in jail, a stiff monetary fine up to $5,000, and deportation – are insufficient warning, a second apprehension is cause for automatic felony charges, Ludlum explained.

When it comes to the twin issues of illegal immigration and drug smuggling, Ludlum says the courts’ work is “very seasonal.” Regarding the annual post-Christmas immigration influx, Ludlum said, “It usually starts right after Epiphany [January 6], and goes through May, and now we might see 20, 30 or 40 cases a day, just as we round the corner into the marijuana season. Harvest is usually August, September. And we are already starting to see a regular diet of drugs around here.”

The future of Operation Streamline is uncertain. “It was never designed to be a permanent program,” Ludlum said, even while acknowledging the program’s success, including a stand-up in the 118-mile section of border at the Yuma Sector, Arizona.

As long as Operation Streamline is around, Ludlum sees no let-up in the pressure on courts and detention facilities. She commented on the expansion of the Val Verde County Detention Center operated by GEO Group, “If we’re going to keep Operation Streamline, we can keep it filled.”

On the future of her own mounting workload, Ludlum said, “I’m here to do whatever work is brought in. If I have to work extra, then I have to work extra. That’s what I’m here for.” She affirmed that her colleagues and the staff at the courthouse are “rising to the occasion,” adding, “We have found ways to become incredibly effective and efficient without creating a situation of burnout.”

Jernigan celebrates his 10th anniversary of service as Val Verde County sheriff in June, and remains convinced that Operation Streamline has benefited his jurisdiction toward the end of that decade. “Well, the federal government now is claiming that it’s costing too much money, but what do you think will happen if it goes away? They’ll be right back”

As Jernigan begins making the rounds in Washington again, urging congressional support to continue Operation Streamline, he applauds Ludlum’s professionalism. “Alia and her courts have made it clear they can handle the workload, and we very much appreciate that. But the agencies are impacted, too – Border Patrol, the Marshal Service, and ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] – and the government needs to recognize that and get them some help.”