Federal District Judge Sam Sparks is upset that the US Attorney is prosecuting persons who repeatedly enter Texas illegally. Swollen Docket. Here was part of the explanation, apparently adopted by the judge:

A lawyer for one of those whose prosecution Sparks questioned said his client, Angel Hernandez-Garcia, was arrested on Halloween on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Lawyer Arana said his client, who has since pleaded guilty to the DWI charge, had been living in Austin with his wife and two children and working in construction.

His client, he said, is not a criminal.

U.S. Attorney John Murphy today fired back at Austin federal Judge Sam Sparks' recent accusations that seeking criminal convictions against some illegal immigrants is a waste of taxpayer money.

In a court filing, Murphy wrote that the three Mexican citizens whose prosecution for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation prompted questions from Sparks had each been deported multiple times in the past before recent arrests in Travis County for driving while intoxicated.

"The agency (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and possibly other prosecutors, have chosen less costly means of dealing with each of these defendants on prior occasions, and in response, the defendants have returned unlawfully and engaged in serious criminal conduct," Murphy wrote.

Details.