Immigration Enforcement Under Obama
Returns to Highs of Bush Era


Agency Prosecutions
Customs and Border Protection 7,822
Immigration and Customs Enforcement 2,119
Citizenship and Immigration Services 165
Other 13
Total 10,119
Table 1: DHS Immigration and Customs
Criminal Prosecutions, April 2010
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that criminal immigration enforcement by the two largest investigative agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased to levels comparable to the highest seen during the Bush Administration.

The government reported that during April 2010 there were 7,822 new prosecutions referred by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), following 7,090 prosecutions in March. The total of 14,912 is the highest two-month total since September and October of 2008, when the combined figure was 16,127.

In addition, there were 2,119 new criminal prosecutions referred by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in April 2010, following a March figure of 2,026. The combined two-month total of 4,145 is the highest recorded since the creation of the agency in 2005. This surpasses previous highs of 3,777 in July and August of 2008 and 3,787 in July and August of 2009.

The comparisons of the number of defendants charged 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).

ICE and CBP are the largest investigative agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. Other key units in DHS include the the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA), Secret Service (SS) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The increase in prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figures 1 and 2. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of prosecutions referred by CBP since October 2005. The superimposed line on the bars plots a two-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out.

Plot of moveave * FYMONDT
Figure 1: CBP Criminal Prosecutions Over Time

Similarly, the bars in Figure 2 represent the number of prosecutions referred by ICE since October 2005, and the superimposed line plots the two-month moving average.

Plot of moveave * FYMONDT
Figure 2: ICE Criminal Prosecutions Over Time

Note that in cases where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. This improvement in the recording of prosecution filing dates has been incorporated into TRAC's reporting of trends since July 2009.


Top Ranked Judicial Districts

The southwest border districts of Arizona, Texas South, Texas West, New Mexico and California South account for 98% of prosecutions referred by CBP. Most of these districts reflect increases on par with national trends, although gains were more modest in the Southern District of California (see Table 2).

Location District
Rank
Number of CBP Prosecutions Percent Increase
Feb to Apr 2010
Apr 2010 Mar 2010 Feb 2010 Jan 2010 Dec 2009 Nov 2009
U.S. 7,822 7,090 5,383 4,762 5,443 5,294 45%
Arizona 1 2,547 2,510 1,733 1,729 1,614 2,355 47%
Texas, S 2 2,254 1,826 1,584 1,281 1,896 1,688 42%
Texas, W 3 1,815 1,551 1,197 936 1,288 543 52%
New Mexico 4 700 649 454 392 269 307 54%
California, S 5 343 382 321 308 263 275 7%
Southwest Border 7,659 6,918 5,289 4,646 5,330 5,168 45%
Non-SW Border 163 172 94 116 113 126 73%
% Southwest 98% 98% 98% 98% 98% 98%  
Table 2: Top Districts for CBP Prosecution Referrals

In contrast, ICE activity was spread through the U.S. with the southwest border districts accounting for less than half of prosecutions referred by that agency. While the southwest border districts showed a jump of one third, the rest of the nation showed an even larger increase (51%) from the levels seen two months earlier (see Table 3).

Location District
Rank
Number of ICE Prosecutions Percent Change
Feb to Apr 2010
Apr 2010 Mar 2010 Feb 2010 Jan 2010 Dec 2009 Nov 2009
U.S. 2,119 2,026 1,495 1,301 1,514 1,422 42%
Texas, S 1 290 242 193 170 153 186 50%
Arizona 2 228 226 174 138 198 104 31%
Texas, W 3 181 184 174 131 213 145 4%
California, S 4 172 167 123 97 99 121 40%
New Mexico 5 100 67 72 57 75 56 39%
Southwest Border 971 886 736 593 738 612 32%
Non-SW Border 1,148 1,140 759 708 776 810 51%
% Southwest 46% 44% 49% 46% 49% 43%  
Table 3: Top Districts for ICE Prosecution Referrals