11th Circuit upholds extended penalty for unlawful reentry.
April 22, 2021
On Tuesday, the 11th Circuit supported harsher sentences for unauthorized immigrants who commit serious crimes before or after they illegally reenter the US. The panel ruled that although the enhanced sentences used in criminal trials are not expressly mandated by the INA, they can be used to put off certain criminal conduct and still satisfy the Fifth Amendment’s due-process requirements. Before 2016, sentencing guidelines only punished reentry when coupled with another criminal offense. But in 2016, sentencing guidelines were revised to account for criminal offenses that occur after an immigrant has been deported and then has reentered the U.S.