Lack of Progress in Prosecutorial Discretion Initiative Criticized

"According to an analysis from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, the new guidelines resulted in fewer than 1 percent of the country's backlog of 300,000 immigration cases being closed at the end of March. In San Antonio, the percentage is even lower.  “I feel like I've had several clients who were worthy of having (their cases closed) and they didn't receive it,” said San Antonio immigration attorney Lance Curtright. “I think they could have cast a broader net, especially considering immigration courts are really clogged. I have cases still being scheduled for 2013.”  Cesar Lopez, a 35-year-old Austin resident who came to the country in 1992, was surprised when ICE denied his request for prosecutorial discretion in November. He has four children who are U.S. citizens and has never been charged with a crime, and his parents both obtained legal residency. He was put into deportation proceedings in 2009 after being pulled over in Williamson County.  When ICE denied Lopez's request, it said the deportation case was so far along that it didn't make sense to halt, said his lawyer, David Armendáriz." - Jason Buch, San Antonio Express-News, June 11, 2012.