WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today that it is implementing a “zero-tolerance” policy to prosecute immigrants entering the U.S. at the border.

Cecillia Wang, American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director, said:

“Attorney General Sessions’ ‘zero tolerance policy’ to criminally prosecute immigrants at the border is the height of irrationality and will cause rampant violations of due process and individual rights to a fair trial. We will almost certainly see asylum seekers prosecuted and parents separated from children to be funneled into the criminal justice system.

“This will be assembly-line justice, where large numbers of defendants are forced through the system without adequate time to consult counsel. This leads to an unacceptably high risk of conviction of people who have a valid defense. This policy will cause skyrocketing incarceration rates, with no upside except for abusive, profiteering private prison companies. It is a massive waste of taxpayer money that damages the federal criminal justice system.”