Ahead of the third anniversary of the establishment of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA), the Justice Department has announced additional efforts to dismantle human smuggling operations and increase accountability for those who violate immigration laws. Launched in June 2021 by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, JTFA is a partnership between the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aimed at disrupting human smuggling and trafficking organizations operating in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico.
To build on JTFA's success, including a more than 25% increase in defendants charged with alien smuggling since 2020, the Justice Department is realigning resources, providing financial incentives, and proposing increased penalties for human smuggling offenses. The department is also coordinating with border U.S. Attorneys and their districts, as well as with DHS and other law enforcement agencies, to evaluate current needs and resource allocations.
The Justice Department will continue prioritizing prosecutions involving human smugglers through JTFA, led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. Felony prosecutions for smuggling have increased by 27% since 2020. These cases involve human smuggling of vulnerable populations and individuals posing security concerns, unlawful transportation of assets and contraband, high-speed flight from law enforcement, and possession of firearms by smuggling defendants.
JTFA will focus on high-level human smugglers. Since its creation in June 2021, JTFA has achieved significant results: over 300 arrests; over 240 U.S. convictions; over 170 U.S. defendants sentenced to significant prison terms; substantial seizures of cash, property, vehicles, firearms, ammunition, drugs; multiple indictments; and successful extradition requests against foreign leadership targets.
Just this week, a leader of a migrant smuggling organization was sentenced to ten years in prison for her role in smuggling over 100 migrants from Honduras to the United States for profit.
The Justice Department and State Department are launching an Anti-Smuggling Rewards (ASR) Initiative to dismantle leadership within human smuggling organizations that bring migrants through Central America across the southern U.S. border. The ASR Initiative will offer financial rewards for information leading to the identification or conviction of those responsible for significant human smuggling activities.
The ASR Initiative will target leaders of identified cartels responsible for human smuggling through the Western Hemisphere and across the southern U.S. border; leaders responsible for mass casualty events; and high-priority international fugitives wanted for human smuggling offenses.
Additionally, rewards may be offered to tipsters whose information results in forfeiture of criminal proceeds from human smuggling activities. The Treasury Department will coordinate with ASR Initiative authorities to disrupt high-priority operations.
Since at least 2016, the Justice Department and DHS have urged stiffer penalties for those committing human smuggling offenses. Current sentencing guidelines do not fully account for misconduct severity in these cases — resulting in reduced prosecutorial ability against leaders of smuggling organizations.
The Justice Department intends to seek new penalties against dangerous human smugglers to account properly for their criminal conduct's severity:
- Creating steeper penalty tiers based on people smuggled;
- Increasing penalties when conduct results in injury or death;
- Ensuring sentencing enhancements for sexual assault during the offense even if it occurred outside U.S jurisdiction.
Partnering with DHS, additional prosecutors and support staff will be directed towards increasing federal immigration-related prosecutions in crucial border U.S. Attorneys’ Offices despite budget constraints.
Joint Task Force Alpha is led by the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section with support from various offices within DOJ along with substantial law enforcement investment from DHS, FBI, DEA among others.
