Civil restitution as an objective of Department of Homeland Security Mission 3

Abstract

Rates of illegal immigration recidivism by previously convicted and removed noncitizens—criminal immigration recidivists—are disconcerting. Enforcement strategies such as prosecution and removals do not appear to prevent and deter this population’s reoffending behavior as much as expected. Meanwhile, resources are continually strained—at the taxpayers’ expense—due to re-enforcement of immigration, criminal, and other laws. As a result, this thesis argues in favor of introducing civil restitution (CR) as an enforcement strategy against criminal immigration recidivism. In support of this argument, the author employed a hybrid experimental and causal design methodology to research the history of restitution as an alternative sanction in the criminal justice system. The feasibility of developing a strategy against criminal immigration recidivism modeled after restitution’s theoretical underpinnings was explored and tested. The CR strategy borrows from restitution’s focus on holding offenders accountable for the financial losses their offenses have caused to their victims, and, as per the research findings, its potential to lower recidivism rates, thereby reducing the costs of re-enforcing or reinitiating the removal process at the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) expense. The thesis concludes by recommending the implementation of a CR policy model strategy. The strategy will become part of the DHS Mission 3’s prevention of unlawful immigration goals and objectives.