“This report is based primarily on interviews conducted between February 2014 and June 2015 and information obtained from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. It also relies on federal court decisions, news articles, and other publicly available sources.
“Human Rights Watch conducted more than 132 interviews with non-citizens who had been arrested for or convicted of drug offenses, the vast majority of whom were placed into deportation proceedings; family members; immigration and criminal defense attorneys and paralegals; prosecutors; law enforcement officials; and drug policy and criminal justice reform advocates. We interviewed individuals, family members, and attorneys regarding a total of 71 cases and reviewed news articles and federal court decisions in several additional cases.”