The Troubling Case(s) of Noncitizens: Immigration Enforcement Through the Criminal Justice System and the Effect on Families

million of them are undocumented. 4 The federal government has greatly escalated the rate at which it removes noncitizens from the U.S. 5 For example, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") removes about 400 thousand noncitizens per year, or about 1,000 per day. 6 Despite the large number of noncitizens removed, federal courts have held that it is not the government's role to remove every noncitizen.For example, in Kang v. United States, Jinyu Kang, a citizen of China, fled to the United States and sought asylum. 7 After finding that the record "compels the conclusion that if Kang is removed to China it is more likely that she will be beaten, suffocated, deprived of sleep, shocked with electrical current, and/or forced to stand for long periods of time," the court granted Kang Convention Against Torture ("CAT") relief. 8 In doing so, the court noted that the government's role is to "seek justice rather than victory," and the court was in "distress" when the government failed to live up to that duty in this case. 9 And the problem, according to Jill E.