Immigration Prosecutions at Record Levels in FY 2009
Number Year-to-date 67,994 Percent Change from previous year 14.1 Percent Change from 5 years ago 139 Percent Change from 10 years ago 459 Percent Change from 20 years ago 973
Table 1: Criminal Immigration ProsecutionsThe latest available data from the Justice Department show that during the first nine months of FY 2009 the government reported 67,994 new immigration prosecutions. If this activity continues at the same pace, the annual total of prosecutions will be 90,659 for this fiscal year. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this estimate is up 14.1 percent over the past fiscal year when the number of prosecutions totaled 79,431.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with immigration-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (see Table 1).
Compared to five years ago when there were 37,884, the estimate of FY 2009 prosecutions of this type is up 139 percent. Prosecutions over the past year are much higher than they were ten years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 459 percent from the level of 16,219 reported in 1999 and up 973 percent from the level of 8,448 reported in 1989.
The long term trend in prosecutions for these matters going back to FY 1989 is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of immigration prosecutions of this type recorded each fiscal year. Projected figures for the current fiscal year are shown. Each presidential administration is distinguished by the color of the bars. To view trends month-by-month rather than year-by-year, see TRAC's monthly report series for the latest data.
Figure 1: Criminal Immigration Prosecutions over the last 20 yearsLeading Investigative Agencies
The lead investigative agency for immigration prosecutions through June 2009 was Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection (CBP), accounting for 84.8 percent of prosecutions referred. Growth in immigration prosecutions was largely driven by increases in apprehensions along the border by CBP, which are projected to increase 13.7 percent from 67,641 in FY 2008 up to 76,888 in FY 2009.
As shown in Figure 2, the only other agency with substantial numbers of immigration referrals was Homeland Security - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accounting for 13 percent of these prosecutions. Immigration enforcement by this agency is projected to increase from 10,104 in FY 2008 up to 11,767 in FY 2009.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during the first nine months of FY 2009.
Note: There were an additional 52 other lead charges which were not individually ranked. See latest monthly report if you want all lead charges included in rankings for the latest month, or use TRACFED's criminal analyzer tool for a complete listing for any year.
Lead Charge Count Rank Current 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago 10 yrs ago 20 yrs ago 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 40,050 1 1 1 2 1 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 21,892 2 2 2 1 3 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 2,980 3 3 3 3 2 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and 1,244 4 4 4 4 6 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 635 5 5 8 5 8 18 USC 0911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 224 6 7 6 6 5 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements generally 160 7 6 5 9 9 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 116 8 8 7 7 10 18 USC 0002 - Aiding and Abetting 106 9 9 10 15 25 18 USC 0371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 81 10 10 11 10 4
Table 2: Top charges filed
"Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325) was the most frequently recorded lead charge. Prosecutions under this this statute are projected to increase 7.7 percent from FY 2008. Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 was ranked first a year ago, while it was the first most frequently invoked five years ago. It was ranked second ten years ago and first twenty years ago.
Ranked second in frequency was the lead charge "Reentry of deported alien" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326. Prosecutions under this statute are projected to increase 37.7 percent from FY 2008. Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 was ranked second a year ago, while it was the second most frequently invoked five years ago. It was ranked first ten years ago and third twenty years ago.
Ranked third was "Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324. Prosecutions under this statute are projected to decrease by 14.2 percent from FY 2008. Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 was ranked third a year ago, while it was the third most frequently invoked five years ago. It was ranked third ten years ago and second twenty years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest projected increase in prosecutions—up 55.4 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves "Fraud and related activity - id documents ". This was the same statute that had the largest projected increase—353 percent—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest projected decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 41.6 percent—was "Fraud/false statements generally " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 ). This was the same statute that had the largest projected decrease—45.3 percent—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of immigration prosecutions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts. The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions of this type during the first nine months of FY 2009 are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Percent Change
from FY2008
(projected)Rank Current 1 yr ago 5 yrs ago 10 yrs ago 20 yrs ago Texas, S 22,953 22.1 1 1 1 4 2 Arizona 16,477 39.7 2 3 3 2 3 Texas, W 13,729 -4.3 3 2 2 1 4 N Mexico 4,598 9.8 4 4 5 5 11 Cal, S 3,287 -13.9 5 5 4 3 1 Cal, C 596 -16.4 6 6 6 8 7 Fla, S 481 -2.4 7 7 7 13 9 N. Y., S 305 190 8 22 16 10 16 Cal, E 304 36.4 9 12 15 6 5 Cal, N 293 70.7 10 16 12 14 24
Table 3: Top 10 districts
The Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 22,953 prosecutions—was the most active through June 2009. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked first a year ago as well as five years ago. The district's position ten years ago was fourth and second twenty years ago.
The District of Arizona ranked second. The District of Arizona was ranked third a year ago as well as five years ago. The district's position ten years ago was second and third twenty years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) now ranks third. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked second a year ago as well as five years ago. The district's position ten years ago was first and fourth twenty years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Eastern District of California (Sacramento), Northern District of California (San Francisco) and Southern District of New York (Manhattan), now ranked ninth, tenth and eighth. These districts ranked twelfth, sixteenth and twenty-second one year ago and fifteenth, twelfth and sixteenth five years ago.
Compared to 10 years ago, Southern District of Florida (Miami) and Northern District of California (San Francisco) now ranked in the top 10 did not appear in the top ten.
And compared to 20 years ago, New Mexico, Southern District of New York (Manhattan) and Northern District of California (San Francisco) were not sufficiently active to then make the top 10.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest projected growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago—190 percent—was Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest projected growth—566 percent—was Arizona .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest projected drop in immigration prosecutions—16.4 percent—was Central District of California (Los Angeles).
Report Date: September 21, 2009
