The Trump administration lost or abandoned hundreds of cases in which it accused anti-ICE protesters and migrants of assaulting federal immigration agents, according to an analysis from The New York Times.
Of the 558 individuals charged, 191 cases were dismissed and 22 were acquitted. Only four defendants were convicted after trial, while 246 pleaded guilty, and an additional 95 cases remain pending. This stands in contrast to the Justice Department's typical record, where over 90 percent of defendants either plead guilty or are convicted at trial.
The administration's strategy often relied on the statute 18 U.S.C. 111, which criminalizes the assault or forcible impediment of a government officer and carries penalties ranging from fines to up to 20 years in prison.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Lauren Bis told The New York Times that an increase in criminal referrals under this statute was expected due to a rise in violence and threats against federal law enforcement. Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle stated that prosecutors correctly prioritized these cases but sometimes reduced or dropped charges based on mitigating factors.
According to a Justice Department official cited by the newspaper, charges were dropped in some instances when defendants were deported from the United States. The New York Times based its analysis on court filings, hearing transcripts, videos of encounters, and interviews with witnesses and federal officials.
In many of the lost or abandoned cases, court records and video evidence indicated that federal agents initiated physical altercations, including shoving, tackling, and pepper-spraying defendants. Some defendants successfully argued that their actions were in self-defense. The report also noted instances where judges found agents had purposely destroyed evidence, such as demanding that a defendant delete images from their cellphone.
More than two dozen individuals were charged for allegedly filming or following agents, sometimes by honking car horns or shouting warnings, despite no allegations of physical contact. In one case, assault charges against an immigrant were dismissed after a judge ruled that the agent involved was cut by glass from a car window that the agent had smashed.
Prosecutors abandoned or dropped charges before deadlines to present evidence to a grand jury or judge in 65 instances. The report did acknowledge one situation where federal immigration officers were seriously injured by protesters and migrants, including an officer whose arm was dragged while it was inside a car window.
In related news, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have resumed nationwide traffic stops under a new policy requiring at least one agent to wear a body camera, following recent fatal shootings.