Border Dispatch: Inside San Diego's criminal immigration court | Kristina Davis

ourtroom 2A looks unlike any other in the San Diego federal courthouse. In the courtroom designated to handle the flow of migrants being criminally prosecuted under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, a towering plexiglass divider has been erected separating the misdemeanor defendants from their attorneys and the rest of the court. The U.S. Marshals Service says the barrier is a security measure “to ensure the safety of staff, prisoners, and members of the public who attend court hearings,” while defense attorneys see the divider as a larger symbol in the clash over immigration policy. “It’s using a nonexistent problem as an excuse to build yet another wall,” said Kathryn Nester, executive director of Federal Defenders of San Diego, which provides public defender services.