Bipartisan effort cites border as main reason for five additional judges
WASHINGTON – Arizona’s eight members of the House of Representatives want Congress to help alleviate the growing criminal caseload on federal law enforcement officials in the state by adding five new federal judges.
Arizona’s entire House delegation – five Democrats and three Republicans – say additional judges would help confront the burdens imposed by illegal immigration, drug trafficking and other border-related crimes.
“Arizona’s federal judiciary is very grateful for the delegation’s efforts to increase our resources,” said the Honorable John M. Roll, chief judge for the District of Arizona.
If the lawmakers’ request is met, the number of active federal district judges in Arizona would increase to 18. Currently, there are eight active district judges in Phoenix and five in Tucson.
“Arizona is on the frontlines of the border security crisis facing our country,” said U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who spearheaded the delegation request. “For far too long, the federal government has failed to live up to its responsibility to secure our border. We need to give law enforcement officials at every level the tools they need to keep our communities safe. Five additional federal judges will help achieve this goal.”
Similar views were expressed by other members of the delegation.
“As Arizona continues to be in the forefront of these issues, our local law enforcement officials need more resources, not fewer,” said U.S. Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva. “Given the lack of federal judges throughout the state, it is only fair that Arizona receive these appointments.”
“The federal government’s failure at the border has stretched Arizona’s criminal justice system to the limit,” said U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake. “These additional federal judges are badly needed.”
“The federal government’s inability to secure the border has put pressure on law enforcement officials at the local, state and federal levels,” U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell said. “Additional judges will help us address the growing burden caused by Mexican drug cartels and the crime they bring.”
“Our southern border remains one of our most critical national security vulnerabilities, and Arizona bears the brunt of Congress' failure to address it,” said U.S. Rep. Trent Franks. “Phoenix now has the highest kidnapping rate in the country, largely related to drug traffic flowing across the border, and every day over 4,000 individuals cross the border illegally. We must take steps to address our border crisis, and adding five new, much-needed federal judges to address Arizona’s disproportional number of border-related crimes is an important part of addressing that problem.”
“We need a sustained, comprehensive effort to make up for years of failed policies along the border from Washington,” said U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. “That has to include investing the resources we need into bringing gang members and Mexican cartel traffickers to justice. Strengthening the federal judiciary will help ensure that we put these violent criminals behind bars.”
At Giffords’ request, Arizona lawmakers formally asked for the judges in a July 23 letter to Sens. Patrick Leahy and Jeff Sessions, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. A similar letter was sent to Reps. John Conyers and Lamar Smith, the top Democrat and Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
The letters urge a rejection of a recommendation by the U.S. Judicial Conference for one new permanent and one new temporary federal judge. This recommendation, Arizona’s lawmakers wrote, was based on a “significant lack of prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office that has largely been rectified.”
The lawmakers note that the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol is the most trafficked section of our country’s southern border. They told Leahy and Sessions that more undocumented immigrants are apprehended and more marijuana is seized here than in any other sector.
“It is clear,” they wrote, “that the U.S. Judicial Conference’s recommendations were based on data that fails to reflect the caseload increase that we are already witnessing in Arizona.”