As US officials use new sentencing guidelines to release drug offenders from federal prison in an effort to reduce the country's massive inmate population, they are taking an opposite approach to the undocumented population: pushing to increase federal prison time for crossing the border.
The proposed amendment, which the commission is due to vote on this Friday, would raise base sentences for illegal reentry with no other criminal offenses from between zero and six months to between six and 12 months in federal prison
