Laws on the books made illegal entry a misdemeanor and reentry a felony. Yet the agents rarely charged a parent with either offense because it would mean separating her from her children. The email suggested prosecuting parents anyway. “History would not judge [this] kindly,” responded Richard Durbin, the acting US attorney based in San Antonio. He was a career prosecutor who would be replaced in a few months by a political appointee. For now, Durbin proposed a narrower approach. “We should be looking at each individual,” he went on. “If culpability is very low and they have their own children
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