The Trump administration’s “disturbing” legal strategy to prosecute border crossers is taxing courts

The Trump administration’s “disturbing” new legal strategy to prosecute border crossers is taxing courts and testing the law.

By: Agnel Philip, Abe Streep, Pro Publica, Perla Trevizo, Pratheek Rebala

Outlets: Source New Mexico

Published: March 17, 2026

Words: 2,366

Last Updated: 4 months, 2 weeks ago

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This story was originally published by ProPublica and co-published with The Texas Tribune

Jose Omar Flores-Penaloza was willing to admit that he had entered the United States illegally. He was ready to be deported, according to his attorneys.

But federal prosecutors would not let him go last spring without making him answer for another crime — one he had never heard of.

Weeks earlier, President Donald Trump, to address what he …

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