Central American Deportation Cases
Dominate U.S. Immigration Courts

Persons from Central America continue to outnumber those from Mexico when DHS seeks deportation orders in Immigration Court, according to the latest government data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). During the first ten months of fiscal year 2015, 42 percent of DHS filings involved individuals from Central America, primarily Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. This figure is up from 25 percent three years ago in fiscal year 2012.

Bar chart of shortyear
Figure 1. Immigration Court Filings Involving
Persons from Mexico and Central America
* First 10 Months of FY 2015

However, the proportion of individuals from Central American countries involved in Immigration Court cases has been quite variable. Ten years ago, cases from Central America also surpassed the numbers from Mexico. Over the last decade they have ranged from a low of 19 percent during FY 2009-2011 to a high of 56 percent just last year. Figure 1 shows the changing year-to-year composition of DHS Immigration Court filings involving persons from Mexico versus those from Central America.

This changing makeup of Immigration Court cases reflects in part the sharp peaks and valleys in the year-to-year flow of cases from Central American countries. For example, ten years ago there was a sharp spike of 44,202 Immigration Court cases involving persons from Honduras, with another 43,608 from El Salvador. That year Central Americans made up 40 percent of all filings, exceeding the number from Mexico. Last year, there was another spike so that Central Americans made up over half (56%) of new Immigration Court cases.

Figure 2 and Table 1 show the individual country-by-country trends for Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras as well as the total for the other Central American countries (Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama).

Bar chart of shortyear
Figure 2. Composition of Central America Immigration Court Filings
* First 10 Months of FY 2015

In contrast, cases involving persons from Mexico do not show any rapid year-to-year changes. After rising from FY 2005 through FY 2009, Mexican deportation cases have been steadily declining (see Table 1).

There was a doubling last year of Immigration Court cases involving persons from Central America, thanks in part to the recent surge in numbers of unaccompanied children and women with children arriving at the U.S. southwest border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

As shown in Table 2, four out of every ten (40%) new court cases from Central America during FY 2014 involved unaccompanied children. And at least another 17 percent involved women with children, although this is likely an undercount. (Table 2 does not identify those Central American cases involving women with children because the court did not begin tracking these cases separately until late in FY 2014.)

So far during FY 2015, there has been a decline in the total number of cases in Immigration Court involving persons from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, with a steep drop in the number of cases involving unaccompanied children. Overall this year, 27 percent of cases from Central American countries involve unaccompanied children, down from that 40 percent figure for FY 2014.

The falloff has been particularly sharp for El Salvador; unaccompanied children currently account for only 15 percent of Immigration Court cases for that country, compared to 45 percent last year. In contrast, the proportion of cases from Honduras involving unaccompanied children has risen slightly to 36 percent, up from 33 percent in FY 2014.

Table 1. DHS Filings Seeking Deportation Orders in Immigration Courts
Fiscal Year
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*
  Percent of Total
All Nationalities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Mexico 26% 34% 42% 47% 50% 50% 52% 50% 38% 25% 32%
Central America 40% 39% 26% 22% 19% 19% 19% 25% 37% 56% 42%
Guatemala 7% 7% 9% 8% 7% 7% 8% 9% 12% 15% 16%
El Salvador 15% 23% 10% 7% 6% 6% 6% 8% 12% 19% 16%
Honduras 15% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 7% 11% 21% 10%
Other Central America 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
China 3% 3% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 5% 4% 3% 4%
Other 32% 24% 28% 27% 28% 27% 25% 21% 22% 16% 21%
  Number of DHS Filings in Immigration Court
All Nationalities 286,023 231,633 213,925 228,900 255,634 247,332 240,008 215,101 201,156 257,437 127,576
Mexico 73,047 79,499 90,742 108,627 127,675 123,187 123,969 107,075 75,777 65,094 41,458
Central America 115,116 89,216 55,145 50,475 47,580 46,032 46,229 52,989 73,872 144,545 54,030
Guatemala 21,128 17,055 20,200 19,237 18,839 17,324 18,377 20,258 24,580 38,535 20,209
El Salvador 43,608 53,484 21,933 16,608 14,156 14,321 13,708 16,735 24,659 49,929 20,001
Honduras 44,202 14,187 10,344 12,155 11,991 11,962 11,975 14,169 22,639 53,999 12,856
Other Central America 6,178 4,490 2,668 2,475 2,594 2,425 2,169 1,827 1,994 2,082 964
China 7,675 7,301 7,635 8,572 9,693 10,530 10,591 10,228 7,199 7,383 5,106
Other 90,185 55,617 60,403 61,226 70,686 67,583 59,219 44,809 44,308 40,415 26,982
* Preliminary figures cover the first 10 months of FY 2015. The total 12-month figure for all nationalities is projected to approximate the level of FY 2013 filings.
Table 2. DHS Filings in Immigration Court Involving Unaccompanied Children
Fiscal Year
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015*
  Number of DHS Filings in Immigration Court
Central America 46,032 46,229 52,989 73,872 144,545 54,030
Guatemala 17,324 18,377 20,258 24,580 38,535 20,209
El Salvador 14,321 13,708 16,735 24,659 49,929 20,001
Honduras 11,962 11,975 14,169 22,639 53,999 12,856
Other Central America 2,425 2,169 1,827 1,994 2,082 964
  Number of DHS Filings Involving Unaccompanied Children
Central America 5,009 4,466 9,970 20,286 58,034 14,795
Guatemala 1,750 1,862 3,854 7,726 17,549 7,048
El Salvador 1,166 1,063 2,931 6,705 22,238 2,991
Honduras 2,038 1,509 3,129 5,751 18,020 4,687
Other Central America 55 32 56 104 227 69
  Percent of DHS Filings Involving Unaccompanied Children
Central America 11% 10% 19% 27% 40% 27%
Guatemala 10% 10% 19% 31% 46% 35%
El Salvador 8% 8% 18% 27% 45% 15%
Honduras 17% 13% 22% 25% 33% 36%
Other Central America 2% 1% 3% 5% 11% 7%
* Preliminary figures cover the first 10 months of FY 2015. Because of the delay between the date of a Notice to Appear (NTA) and a DHS filing, as well as court recording delays, these figures understate case filings for the current fiscal year.

Many of TRAC's free query tools, including those on DHS filings, unaccompanied children, and women with children have been updated through July 2015. For an index to the full list of TRAC's immigration tools go to http://trac.syr.edu/imm/tools/.

TRAC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit data research center affiliated with the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Whitman School of Management, both at Syracuse University. For more information, to subscribe, or to donate, contact trac@syr.edu or call 315-443-3563.