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(WIBC) One in 4 Indiana Republicans say that stopping the flow of illegal immigrants into the state is the most important issue for the governor and state legislature to focus on.

Thats according to a recent poll from Indy Politics and Crossroads Public Affairs.

In a survey of 500 likely Republican primary voters, the data says stopping the flow of illegal immigrants is their most important issue to 31% of respondents; 18% said tackling inflation was their top issue; 14% said creating jobs and attracting and retaining businesses, and 11% said fighting violent crime and drugs.

Immigration is a major issue all around the country and Indiana is no exception, said pollster Andrew Weissert. Itll be front and center in the presidential election this fall and its an issue very important to Republican voters right now.

You may recall the legal battle between the state and now-former Senate candidate John Rust. He sued the state over its election laws that state you have to have voted in the previous two primaries of the party you are running as in order to run for statewide office; 61% of Republicans surveyed say they agree with that law.

On the subject of legalizing pot in Indiana, 67% support some type of legalization, with 33% indicating support for recreational use and 34% supporting medicinal use only.

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Illegal Immigration, Legal Pot Top Of Mind For Hoosiers - WISH TV Indianapolis, IN

A federal judge has ruled that illegal immigrants stuck in makeshift outdoor detention sites in Southern California are technically in the governments custody and agents must now follow strict rules for delivering care to the children among them.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gees ruling deals with a particularly tricky situation where large groups of migrants have been crossing the border illegally and demanding to be arrested by Border Patrol agents, expecting to be caught and then quickly released.

But agents are so overwhelmed they say they cant process the migrants fast enough and often leave them to camp out on the U.S. side of the border for days, enduring the cold, lack of food, and the threat from snakes and scorpions as they wait to be arrested.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents said the migrants can walk away, disappearing into the country without even being processed, and thus are not actually in custody. Judge Gee disagreed, saying that since CPB agents exert a lot of control over the staging area, the agency has custody of those in it.

Although it may be true that CBP did not initially intend for these locations to become [open-air detention sites] collectively holding thousands of migrants, it is nonetheless true that the situation has evolved such that the minors held there are in the legal custody of CBP, she wrote in the April 3 decision.

She said the government is required to provide better bathroom facilities and supplies of water, offer meals every six hours, at least some of them hot, and work faster to process the children and get them into more stable situations.

Its not yet clear how the Border Patrol will adjust to the order.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reviewing the courts order. CBP will continue to transport vulnerable individuals and children encountered on the border to its facilities as quickly as possible, the agency told The Washington Times.

The ruling is the latest in a yearslong odyssey surrounding the treatment of illegal immigrant children. The Flores settlement, a 1990s-era agreement revised about a decade ago, governs much of that treatment, and by extension much of U.S. immigration policy.

Under Flores, illegal immigrant children must be quickly released from the Department of Homeland Securitys custody. For most unaccompanied children, that means being turned over to government-run shelters to await placement with sponsors.

For children who come with parents, it means the government must either find a way to deport them quickly or release them, virtually guaranteeing they will slip unmonitored into the U.S.

Complying with Flores requirements has become a major burden as illegal immigration has surged under President Biden.

The government set up tent cities to handle all of the children it was facing in 2021, and wrote new rules cutting corners to speed up placement of children with sponsors.

More recently, as migrants surged into Southern California, CBP officials could not deal with the numbers they have been seeing, leaving people at the staging sites until agents can get to them.

CBP blames smuggling cartels, saying theyre orchestrating the mass incursions and telling migrants to hole up and wait for agents.

Agents said they do try to keep an eye on the crowds, offering some snacks and water. They also separate single men from the families and children to try to prevent dangerous situations, and they do some crowd control and maintain a perimeter.

But the Border Patrol said the migrants it is dealing with are not actually under arrest.

Single adult men, like other populations, are free to leave areas where large groups congregate at any point prior to arrest, Brent L. Schwerdtfeger, the chief of law enforcement operations for the Border Patrols San Diego sector, told Judge Gee.

The judge ruled that the migrants are in custody nevertheless.

Immigrant rights advocates say migrants are being denied adequate medical care, suffer hypothermia from cold nights without any shelter, and have to sleep in the dirt, where they face scorpions and snakes.

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Judge rules DHS must deliver better treatment to illegal immigrants awaiting arrest - Washington Times

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. Surging border crossings are putting a strain on communities in Southern California, where hordes of migrants are often spotted at transit hubs after immigration officials resumed street releases, local politicians say.

"Theres no end in sight," San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News. "This is a new norm, which I think we're going to get a rude wake-up call someday."

Approximately 30 migrants lined up in an empty parking lot near Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on March 27, 2024. Border Patrol agents have encountered record numbers of illegal immigrants in the San Diego area in recent years, straining both federal and local resources. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

SHOULD BIDEN PAY THE MEXICAN PRESIDENT'S $20 BILLION DEMAND OR GET TOUGHER ON IMMIGRATION? AMERICANS WEIGH IN

Migrants' first days in Southern California often follow a similar schedule.

After going over, around or through gaps in the border fence, they surrender to Border Patrol agents. Maybe its immediate, maybe they have to wait on the side of the road for a few hours to be caught, or maybe they make a dangerous trek through mountains that Customs and Border Protection warns range from snow-covered in the winter to perilously hot and dry in the summer.

They get searched, processed at a CBP facility tucked amid truck repair shops and car auction businesses, and released. The majority but not all get dropped off at local transit stations, Desmond said, gone from San Diego County before many residents have even registered their arrival.

"A lot of them are going to the East Coast," Desmond said of the folks he has spoken to at the border. "So a lot of them leave. But there's a lot we don't know."

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Located about 15 minutes from downtown San Diego, El Cajon has become one of a handful of drop-off sites for migrants. Mayor Bill Wells said the border has "always been a problem," but the federal government always made an effort to prevent "bad actors" like cartels and gang members from entering the country.

"Now the gates are wide open," Wells told Fox News. "We're no longer even trying."

The San Diego sector saw an 85% increase in encounters in February compared to the same month last year, according to CBP data. Agents there made more than 230,000 encounters during fiscal year 2023, a record 2024 is on track to shatter.

AMID BORDER PATROL RECRUITMENT CRISIS, ONE STEP OF THE HIRING PROCESS IS WIPING OUT TONS OF APPLICANTS

While the Biden administration promises "our borders are not open," those on the front lines describe a contradictory scene. Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed with "give ups," people who walk across the border and claim asylum so they can be detained, processed and then released into the United States.

"I dont blame the Border Patrol agents," Desmond said. "Their hands are tied."

Both Wells and Desmond have documented crowds at local transit stations. Desmond said CBP releases between 600 and 900 people on a given day, usually at locations that lack bathrooms and other amenities. Sometimes nonprofits or "entrepreneurial" taxi drivers are there waiting, he said.

Now the gates are wide open. We're no longer even trying.

"Unfortunately, San Diego Airport now has become the de facto migrant shelter, where they sleep there," he added, estimating that around 90% of migrants continue to other cities around the country like Chicago or New York. "Hopefully a lot of them leave. But we have no, really, idea of if they do or not."

Until late February,migrants would likely have been taken to a vacant elementary school-turned processing center in San Diego. But the $6 million in county funding that was supposed to sustain the center from October through March ran out early, after processing 81,000 migrants, according to local news reports.

The Board of Supervisors approved a plan to seek federal dollars and charitable donations to fund a replacement center to stem the tide of street releases. Desmond cast the sole "no" vote, arguing a long-term shelter would just be complicit in the federal governments mess.

San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, left, and El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells are frustrated with the federal government's handling of the border. They said hundreds of migrants are dropped off daily in their region and, while many continue on to other cities or states, those who stay put a strain on local resources. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

ALL ROADS 'LEAD BACK TO FENTANYL': CITY OVERRUN WITH DRUGS SEES PROGRESS AFTER OVERWHELMED POLICE GET NEW HELP

"What were allowing is a very undignified and inhumane process where people have to come over a 30-foot fence [or] through a river," he said. "We should enforce our laws and have a legal, dignified immigration process."

Americans increasingly rank immigration as the most important problem facing the United States. In California, nearly two-thirds of likely voters surveyed earlier this year by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, said the border is not secure enough.

Californians Fox News spoke with largely said border security was an important voting priority for them and that they support immigration so long as its done legally.

"If you have a fence around your house, if you lock your door at night, then we don't need to explain to you the value of having a border fence. It's not rocket science," Mark Good said.

In California, 65% of likely voters surveyed earlier this year said the border is not secure enough to prevent people from entering the country illegally. (Ramiro Vargas/Fox News Digital)

Goods son-in-law spent five years waiting to immigrate to the U.S. from Bangladesh "the right way," he said.

"Then you see people coming over the border and getting given things," his wife Pat said. "Its hard. I feel bad for them, but its hard."

Wells, who is running for Congress, and other local leaders initially worried there would be a surge of migrants on the street after the welcome center closed. That hasnt happened yet, he said, speculating that private organizations and nonprofits have been able to get migrants on planes and buses fast enough to keep up with the influx.

Border agents in the San Diego sector have recorded more than 150,000 migrant encounters since October 2023. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

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"Pretty soon the system is going to be overwhelmed to the point where there's not going to be enough money to send people everywhere they want to go," Wells worried.

With homeless shelters already full, he said migrants could end up on the streets.

"Everything is already full because of the migrants and the homeless people that have flocked to California in the past couple of years," Wells said. "So there's very little in the way of safety net in California."

Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.

Hannah Ray Lambert is an associate producer/writer with Fox News Digital Originals.

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Crisis in California: Migrants overwhelming state with 'no end in sight,' local officials warn - Fox News

Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his fraud and conspiracy convictions — but he will probably spend less than 60 percent of it, or roughly 15 years, in an actual prison. Bankman-Fried thus may serve a significantly smaller percentage of his sentence than the thousands of immigrants convicted each year for crossing the border do. This disparate treatment is unjust.

Bankman-Fried will likely receive this sentence reduction through the First Step Act. Signed by then-President Trump in 2018, the First Step Act gives some federal inmates the opportunity to shave years off their sentences. If an inmate meets the law’s qualifications, they are entitled to 15 days of “earned time credit” for every 30 days they serve. One year of that credit goes toward ending the sentence early, and the rest goes toward moving from prison into a halfway house or home confinement. If federal prisoners receive all possible earned time credit, on top of the 54 days of “good time” credit they can get each year, they will serve only about 207 days in prison for every year of their sentence. For example, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who was sentenced last year to 11 years and three months in prison, will likely serve a little more than six years.

This is a major benefit to white-collar defendants like Bankman-Fried. Unfortunately, immigrant defendants with a deportation order cannot receive earned time credit — and they make up a significant portion of federal defendants. Since the early 2010s, the most commonly charged federal crime has been reentering the United States after deportation. Between 10,000 and 25,000 immigrants are charged with this crime every year, depending on the presidential administration.

While unlawful reentry is a victimless crime that simply involves entering the U.S., a conviction can carry up to 20 years in federal prison. The average sentence for unlawful reentry in 2022 was 13 months, but many of the sentences are much higher. And more than 99 percent of the defendants in these cases are from Latin America.

The First Step Act has thus created a federal prison system that discriminates by immigration status. One of the largest classes of federal defendants, which is almost entirely made up of Latin Americans, serves a much higher portion of their sentences. A deported immigrant defendant with an 11-year sentence like Holmes’s would serve nine years rather than six. Adding to the injustice, the great majority of immigrant federal defendants (unlike Holmes and Bankman-Fried) are in prison for victimless crimes. They have not been convicted for defrauding billions from customers or investors, but merely for crossing the border.

This discrimination cannot be justified by arguing that the Bureau of Prisons should save its programming resources for U.S. citizens. The First Step Act does require that a prisoner participate in programming like drug treatment and other classes if the prison recommends them. But if such classes are unavailable or deemed unnecessary, the prisoner still earns 15 days off for every 30 days served. If the Bureau of Prisons chooses not to use programming resources on immigrants, that is its prerogative, but it should give them the same treatment other prisoners receive.

The First Step Act’s system of earned time credit is a major step toward a more humane criminal justice system. It provides prisoners like Bankman-Fried with hope that they will be able to return to the community sooner, and an incentive to spend their time in prison productively.

It should not be denied to the tens of thousands of Latin American immigrants we imprison for reentering the United States. Congress should end this discrimination. And if it will not, federal judges should reduce immigrants’ sentences to correct the disparity.

Eric Fish is a law professor at the University of California, Davis. Previously, he was a federal public defender.

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Why is Sam Bankman-Fried treated more leniently than someone facing illegal immigration charges? - The Hill

April 2:Trump in Michigan blasts border bloodbath. Here are the facts

Former President Donald Trump is bringing the emotional immigration debate to Michigan, where a murder case involving a previously deported immigrant is igniting calls for better border security.

Trumps planned campaign speech in Grand Rapids on Tuesday is expected to criticize southern border policies under Democratic President Joe Biden.

His visit follows the March 22 murder of Ruby Garcia, 25, a Grand Rapids resident who prosecutors allege was shot by Brandon Ortiz-Vite, her romantic partner who was in the U.S. illegally after being deported.

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In a Monday radio interview with Justin Barclay on 910AM Superstation, Trump said immigration is the No. 1 issue of the 2024 election, where hes expected to face Biden in a 2020 rematch for the presidency.

Trump claimed Biden isnt doing enough to secure the southern border and prevent crimes like Garcias murder, telling the station, we're ending up with a country that's going to be loaded up with criminals at levels that the police won't even be able to handle.

Trumps critics say he and his allies are making a bad situation worse with his rhetoric, pointing to Republicans rejection of a bipartisan border deal in February that aimed to reduce illegal crossings.

Donald Trump is coming to Grand Rapids to do what he does best: divide, distract, and fearmonger, instead of doing something to address the issues that actually matter to Michiganders, said Alyssa Bradley, the Michigan communications director for Bidens campaign.

So amid all the rhetoric, here are the facts about immigration rates, crime, economic impact and politics in Michigan.

The murder of Garcia on March 22 murder brought national political debates over security at the U.S.-Mexico border to west Michigan.

Garcia was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds on the shoulder of U.S. 131. Ortiz-Vite, also 25, faces charges for killing her in what authorities called a "domestic violence homicide" that stemmed from their romantic relationship.

News of Garcias murder gained traction nationally after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed Ortiz-Vite, a longtime Kent County resident, was in the U.S. illegally.

He was deported to Mexico in 2020, but at some point re-entered the country without legal permission. The case quickly became a rallying cry for conservatives.

Rubys family would not be facing this sad reality had the system not failed to ensure an illegal immigrant with an arrest record couldnt enter the country, Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, said in a recent statement.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, a Republican, last week noted it is the countys second homicide in 10 months involving an immigrant.

Last month, a jury found Luis Bernal-Sosa, a Mexican national, guilty of the shooting death of the mother of his infant child, Leah Marie Gomez, 22, on May 31, 2023, near downtown Grand Rapids.

Democrats and others say the tragedy of the deaths and domestic violence is being overshadowed by politics.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, a Grand Rapids Democrat, said Garcias death became even more tragic when it was co-opted by those wishing to score political points by stoking fear, xenophobia and division.

Nationwide, about 10.5 million people live in the United States without legal authorization double the number from 1995, but roughly the same as 2017, when Trump was president, according to the Pew Research Center.

In Michigan, about 91,000 people are in the state without authorization, about 1.2% of the states population, according to the nonpartisan research firm Migration Policy Institute.

The number of immigrants legally allowed to enter Michigan, including those granted green cards and refugee or asylum status, had not risen dramatically under Biden as of 2022, according to the most recent federal data available.

In 2022, Michigan took in 1,143 refugees, 10th per capita among all states. Thats three fewer refugees than came to Michigan in 2019 under Trump.

Those figures were much higher under former President Barack Obama, with more than 3,000 refugees coming into Michigan each year between 2013 and 2016.

No, and most research indicates they are actually less likely to commit crimes, regardless of their legal status, according to a 2019 study by the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University.

A February study by the libertarian Cato Institute also found that people who are in the country illegally have lower conviction rates for homicide than native-born residents.

Few people are murderers, and illegal immigrants are statistically less likely to be murderers, read the study.

Still, some illegal immigrants do commit homicide, and that statistical fact is no comfort to victims and their families. More importantly, nobody should expect the statistics to comfort individuals affected by violent crime.

Republicans and others contend that those who break immigration law could be willing to break other laws as well.

"The need for strong leadership and strong immigration policies has never been more clear," House Republican Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Cannon Township, said in a statement. I'm glad to see the president return to Michigan for what I'm sure will be a very necessary reminder: laws protect the people. They must be enforced.

State Republicans have called for policies that would delineate between legal and illegal immigration, including banning so-called sanctuary cities that do not fully comply with U.S. immigration policies and enforcement.

Those bills have stalled in the Democratic-majority Michigan Legislature.

The nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies lists the counties of Ingham, Kalamazoo, Wayne and Kent as sanctuary communities, although Kent County officials dispute the designation.

Lansings City Council at one point declared itself a sanctuary city, but reversed that designation in a later vote. East Lansing formally became a sanctuary city in January 2023. Detroit and Ann Arbor have passed resolutions declaring themselves as welcoming cities to immigrants.

Immigration has long been a top campaign issue for Trump, who proposed building a southern border wall as part of his winning 2016 campaign.

Since Biden took office, illegal border crossings have averaged about 2 million per year, the highest level in history, according to the Washington Post.

Efforts to stem the tide have fallen flat in Congress, where a bipartisan deal to curb illegal crossings while providing aid to Ukraine collapsed in the U.S. Senate after Trump and other conservatives criticized the deal.

That plan would have added additional border agents, installed drug-detection machines and created emergency protocols for border backlogs.

Trump took credit for the deal falling apart. Published reports indicate he urged senators to vote against the legislation to deny Biden an election-year victory.

Its unconscionable that he would now come in and say that the problem is not solved when he's the reason why, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on Friday.

Michigan is one of a handful of battleground states that could decide the White House. Trump hopes immigration will swing voters on the fence to him, said Ken Kollman, a political science professor at the University of Michigan.

Its a pretty classic instance of Trump trying to raise the salience of an issue that he thinks is to his advantage, Kollman said.

The stakes are particularly high in west Michigan, which could be up for grabs. Kent County had been reliably Republican for years, but Biden beat Trump by 21,000 votes there in 2020.

Last week, longtime GOP political strategist John Yob wrote in a memo that Garcias murder will move historically centrist Republicans in west Michigan who were torn in recent presidential elections firmly into President Trumps corner.

The massive problem at the border and corresponding media attention is now on the verge of turning these soccer moms into security moms in west Michigan and changing their perspective in the presidential race, Yob wrote.

One case is a terrible tragedy, two cases is an unacceptable trend that voters will not easily accept.

State officials say foreign-born residents wield significant economic power in Michigan: Refugees and immigrants hold a 90% job retention rate in the state, and immigrants hold an estimated $18 billion in spending power.

Encouraging immigration to Michigan was cited as a potential fix for the states population woes, with a Whitmer-backed council calling for incentives to attract more new arrivals including developing a service to help employers and immigrants navigate the bureaucracy of immigration to come to Michigan.

Brinks, the Senate majority leader, called immigrants of all statuses a net-positive to our economy, public safety, culture and community.

Some advocates have called for making it easier for immigrants to get drivers licenses regardless of their legal status, arguing that it would offer immigrants dignity and help them go about their daily lives without fear.

Since 2008, Michigan law has banned residents who arent in the nation legally from receiving driver licenses. Efforts to change the law have gone nowhere.

Continue reading here:
Trump in Michigan: What data says about illegal immigration, crime and economy - Bridge Michigan