Report Reveals Trump Administration Dropped Hundreds of Lawsuits Against Anti-ICE Protesters and Migrants

According to a recent report, the Trump administration has notably failed to win or has dropped hundreds of cases in which anti-I.C.E. protesters and migrants were charged with assaulting federal immigration officials.

A comprehensive analysis by The New York Times revealed that out of 558 individuals facing charges, 191 cases were dismissed outright and 22 people were found not guilty. A mere four individuals were convicted after going to trial. Meanwhile, 246 people entered guilty pleas and 95 cases are still working their way through the system.

The newspaper pointed out that traditionally, over 90% of defendants in Justice Department cases either plead guilty or are convicted in court. The Trump administration had based its legal strategy on 18 U.S.C. 111, which criminalizes assaulting or forcibly obstructing a government officer, with penalties ranging from fines to a 20-year prison term.

News Media has reached out to officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department for their comments on this matter.

DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis told The New York Times that “it should come as no surprise that there’s an increase in criminal referrals under 18 U.S.C. 111 as there’s been a massive increase in violence and threats against federal law enforcement.”

“Federal prosecutors are correct to prioritize these prosecutions and hold individuals accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” added Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle, describing how prosecutors, at times, reduced or dropped charges based on “mitigating factors identified in a case.”

The New York Times cited another Justice Department official as saying that prosecutors in some of the cases dropped charges when the defendants were deported from the United States.

The newspaper said it based its analysis on court filings, hearing transcripts, videos of encounters and interviews with witnesses and federal officials.

It reported that in dozens of the cases that were lost or abandoned, court records and video showed that federal agents initiated physical struggles, such as shoving, tackling and pepper spraying defendants. Other defendants were able to successfully argue that the assaults they were accused of committing against the federal agents were acts of self-defense, the newspaper added.

Two of the judges overseeing the cases discovered agents purposely destroyed evidence, including demanding that a defendant delete images from their cellphone, according to The New York Times.

Officers also charged more than two dozen people who allegedly filmed or followed agents, sometimes honking car horns or shouting phrases like, “La migra is coming!,” despite no allegations of physical contact with agents, the newspaper reported.

In one case, a judge dismissed assault charges against an immigrant after ruling that the agent involved was cut by glass from a car window that the agent had smashed, and in 65 instances, prosecutors abandoned or dropped charges before deadlines to present evidence to a grand jury or judge, the New York Times also said.

The report did note one occasion when federal immigration officers were seriously hurt by protesters and migrants, including the dragging of an officer who had his arm inside a car window.