Immigration Court Post-Trump Cases: Latest Data

The latest available case-by-case Immigration Court records through the end of February 2017 give an early glimpse at what, if any, changes are emerging in deportation actions by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Because so little time has passed since the inauguration of Donald Trump as president on January 20, and given that DHS has broad administrative powers that under many circumstances allow it to bypass the Immigration Court when deporting noncitizens, these court data provide at best a very limited view of immigration enforcement activity around the country.

Court records reveal that so far, since Trump assumed office, a total of 11,040 cases have been initiated by DHS seeking removal orders. This represents the number of DHS Notices to Appear (NTAs), or comparable forms, dated after January 20, 2017 that had been filed in court as of the end of February 2017. NTAs are the official notification to an individual that DHS is seeking to deport them.

Because there is often a delay between the date of the NTA and the date it is filed and recorded by the Immigration Court, around half of the NTAs filed during the post-Trump period still reflect NTAs initiated under President Obama. This report focuses just on those NTA's that were dated after Trump assumed the presidency and have already been filed and recorded by the court. We refer to these as "post-Trump cases."

Because of these filing and recording delays, it is too soon to determine overall trends. However, some large shifts in the composition of post-Trump cases are suggestive:

  • The court is now seeing many more cases where the individual was detained at the time the case is filed, and fewer non-detained cases. See Figure 1.

  • California, as compared to Texas and New York, are seeing larger numbers proportionately than previously.

  • The court is receiving fewer cases from individuals who entered the country within the last year, including fewer unaccompanied juveniles and women with children seeking refuge in the U.S.


Figure 1. Proportion Never Detained After Immigration Court Case Filed

Details follow.

Where Cases Are Being Filed and Custody Status

The three states with the most Immigration Court filings remain the same. Texas has the most, followed by California, and then New York. However, as a share of total filings, courts in California have been seeing proportionately larger numbers than before; Texas courts fewer.

During FY 2012-FY 2016, California courts saw 15.3 percent of all cases. During FY 2017 (until January 20, 2017), California received only 12.7 percent, while with post-Trump cases the percentage is now 17.8 percent. In contrast, the post-Trump cases filed in Texas courts represented 21.1 percent of the nation's total, down from 24.2 percent during FY 2012-FY 2016. New York courts generally are seeing less than one out of every ten cases (9.4%), up slightly from levels of 8.4 percent during FY 2012- FY 2016 but down slightly from the first part of FY 2017.

Table 1 provides state-by-state numbers, including cases filed, what percent of the total each state represents, and state rankings. This table is based upon the "base city" of the court. Not all states have courts based in their state since some courts are assigned cases from surrounding states as well.

Table 1. Immigration Court Filings by State of Court Headquarters City
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  New Filings (by NTA date) Percent Rank
  FY2012-FY2016 FY2017 FY2012-FY2016 FY2017 FY2012-FY2016 FY2017
State OBAMA TRUMP OBAMA TRUMP OBAMA TRUMP
All 1,116,370 57,233 11,040 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Texas 270,574 14,024 2,326 24.2% 24.5% 21.1% 1 1 1
California 171,139 7,290 1,967 15.3% 12.7% 17.8% 2 2 2
New York 94,294 6,145 1,036 8.4% 10.7% 9.4% 3 3 3
Florida 80,473 3,275 826 7.2% 5.7% 7.5% 4 5 4
Georgia 50,364 2,784 726 4.5% 4.9% 6.6% 6 6 5
Arizona 62,132 3,502 640 5.6% 6.1% 5.8% 5 4 6
Louisiana 36,389 1,615 543 3.3% 2.8% 4.9% 9 9 7
New Jersey 33,322 1,231 405 3.0% 2.2% 3.7% 10 13 8
Illinois 41,303 2,218 298 3.7% 3.9% 2.7% 7 8 9
Colorado 19,183 1,491 290 1.7% 2.6% 2.6% 16 10 10
Pennsylvania 24,893 1,488 275 2.2% 2.6% 2.5% 12 11 11
Washington 27,189 1,445 267 2.4% 2.5% 2.4% 11 12 12
Missouri 10,979 1,231 243 1.0% 2.2% 2.2% 20 14 13
Virginia 39,862 2,331 208 3.6% 4.1% 1.9% 8 7 14
Minnesota 11,176 860 172 1.0% 1.5% 1.6% 19 17 15
Michigan 10,213 515 153 0.9% 0.9% 1.4% 22 20 16
Nevada 9,375 674 148 0.8% 1.2% 1.3% 23 19 17
Massachusetts 21,078 484 123 1.9% 0.8% 1.1% 14 22 18
Maryland 23,017 839 111 2.1% 1.5% 1.0% 13 18 19
Nebraska 10,583 1,041 80 0.9% 1.8% 0.7% 21 16 20
Ohio 11,743 497 69 1.1% 0.9% 0.6% 18 21 21
Connecticut 5,216 289 44 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 25 23 22
Utah 6,567 263 31 0.6% 0.5% 0.3% 24 25 23
Tennessee 16,731 1,192 19 1.5% 2.1% 0.2% 17 15 24
Hawaii 1,070 80 15 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 28 27 25
Oregon 5,069 289 10 0.5% 0.5% 0.1% 26 24 26
Puerto Rico 1,922 23 6 0.2% 0.0% 0.1% 27 29 27
Guam 276 28 5 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 29 28 28
North Carolina 20,004 89 2 1.8% 0.2% 0.0% 15 26 29
Northern Mariana Isl 234 0 2 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 30 30 30

Within states, courts that cover detained populations are seeing proportionately greater numbers. The Houston Detained court had the largest number of post-Trump cases thus far filed, slightly more than even the New York City court that historically had the highest case totals in the country and handles non-detained cases.

Indeed, a number of courts that handle detained populations have moved up in the rankings. The courts in third, fourth, and fifth place are all courts at detained locations. Adelanto, California had the third highest totals, followed by Oakdale, Louisiana and Pearsall, Texas. In sixth place was another court covering a detained population -- Krome in Miami, Florida.

Courts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago all saw proportionately lower numbers of post-Trump cases filed. Table 2 provides details for each of the Immigration Courts.

Table 2. Immigration Court Filings by Immigration Court
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  New Cases (by NTA date) Percent Rank
  FY2012-FY2016 FY2017 FY2012-FY2016 FY2017 FY2012-FY2016 FY2017
Immigration Court OBAMA TRUMP OBAMA TRUMP OBAMA TRUMP
All 1,116,370 57,233 11,040 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Houston - Detained TX) 41,895 3,600 834 3.8% 6.3% 7.6% 6 2 1
New York (NY) 75,829 5,002 825 6.8% 8.7% 7.5% 1 1 2
Adelanto (CA) 21,046 1,090 659 1.9% 1.9% 6.0% 23 21 3
Oakdale (LA) 26,108 1,299 529 2.3% 2.3% 4.8% 14 16 4
Pearsall (TX) 25,860 1,354 501 2.3% 2.4% 4.5% 15 12 5
Miami - Krome (FL) 25,046 1,322 452 2.2% 2.3% 4.1% 16 13 6
Los Angeles (CA) 73,720 1,557 409 6.6% 2.7% 3.7% 2 10 7
San Francisco (CA) 50,023 2,435 375 4.5% 4.3% 3.4% 3 4 8
Lumpkin (GA) 26,614 1,031 369 2.4% 1.8% 3.3% 13 23 9
Atlanta (GA) 23,750 1,753 357 2.1% 3.1% 3.2% 18 7 10
Imperial (CA) 7,088 894 319 0.6% 1.6% 2.9% 44 26 11
Chicago (IL) 41,303 2,218 298 3.7% 3.9% 2.7% 7 6 12
Eloy (AZ) 24,131 1,258 298 2.2% 2.2% 2.7% 17 17 13
Florence (AZ) 19,398 1,602 295 1.7% 2.8% 2.7% 25 9 14
Miami (FL) 40,353 1,387 279 3.6% 2.4% 2.5% 8 11 15
El Paso (TX) 27,718 1,643 252 2.5% 2.9% 2.3% 12 8 16
York (PA) 15,790 783 252 1.4% 1.4% 2.3% 29 31 17
Kansas City (MO) 10,979 1,231 243 1.0% 2.2% 2.2% 35 18 18
Tacoma (WA) 18,445 1,016 242 1.7% 1.8% 2.2% 27 24 19
Dallas (TX) 37,240 1,226 236 3.3% 2.1% 2.1% 10 19 20
Aurora (CO) 10,471 699 235 0.9% 1.2% 2.1% 37 34 21
Elizabeth (NJ) 12,129 729 217 1.1% 1.3% 2.0% 32 32 22
Arlington (VA) 39,862 2,331 208 3.6% 4.1% 1.9% 9 5 23
San Diego (CA) 19,262 1,314 205 1.7% 2.3% 1.9% 26 14 24
Los Fresnos (TX) 21,585 904 204 1.9% 1.6% 1.8% 20 25 25
San Antonio (TX) 44,001 1,300 195 3.9% 2.3% 1.8% 5 15 26
Newark (NJ) 21,193 502 188 1.9% 0.9% 1.7% 21 39 27
Bloomington (MN) 11,176 860 172 1.0% 1.5% 1.6% 34 27 28
Detroit (MI) 10,213 515 153 0.9% 0.9% 1.4% 39 38 29
Las Vegas (NV) 9,375 674 148 0.8% 1.2% 1.3% 40 35 30
Boston (MA) 21,078 484 123 1.9% 0.8% 1.1% 22 42 31
Baltimore (MD) 23,017 839 111 2.1% 1.5% 1.0% 19 28 32
Batavia (NY) 6,374 445 98 0.6% 0.8% 0.9% 46 43 33
Orlando (FL) 15,074 566 95 1.4% 1.0% 0.9% 30 36 34
Omaha (NE) 10,583 1,041 80 0.9% 1.8% 0.7% 36 22 35
New York - Detained (NY) 6,317 487 74 0.6% 0.9% 0.7% 47 41 36
Cleveland (OH) 11,743 497 69 1.1% 0.9% 0.6% 33 40 37
Houston (TX) 44,350 3,208 64 4.0% 5.6% 0.6% 4 3 38
Denver (CO) 8,712 792 55 0.8% 1.4% 0.5% 43 29 39
Phoenix (AZ) 14,489 553 47 1.3% 1.0% 0.4% 31 37 40
Hartford (CT) 5,216 289 44 0.5% 0.5% 0.4% 48 46 41
Harlingen (TX) 27,925 789 40 2.5% 1.4% 0.4% 11 30 42
West Valley (UT) 6,567 263 31 0.6% 0.5% 0.3% 45 48 43
Seattle (WA) 8,744 429 25 0.8% 0.7% 0.2% 42 44 44
Napanoch (NY) 2,119 133 25 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 52 49 45
Philadelphia (PA) 9,103 705 23 0.8% 1.2% 0.2% 41 33 46
Memphis (TN) 16,731 1,192 19 1.5% 2.1% 0.2% 28 20 47
Honolulu (HI) 1,070 80 15 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 54 52 48
New Orleans (LA) 10,281 316 14 0.9% 0.6% 0.1% 38 45 49
Buffalo (NY) 3,655 78 14 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% 51 53 50
Portland (OR) 5,069 289 10 0.5% 0.5% 0.1% 49 47 51
Guaynabo (PR) 1,922 23 6 0.2% 0.0% 0.1% 53 55 52
Hagatna (GU) 276 28 5 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 55 54 53
Charlotte (NC) 20,004 89 2 1.8% 0.2% 0.0% 24 50 54
Saipan (MP) 234 0 2 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 56 56 55
Tucson (AZ) 4,114 89 0 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% 50 51 56

The court-by-court filing patterns that favor those courts specializing in detained cases, sum up to a national picture where four-out of five individuals in the post-Trump period were detained at the time their case was filed in Immigration Court. As shown earlier in Figure 1, only one in five were not detained. (Note that court detention tracks detention status from the time the case is actually filed in court; thus, individuals who were previously detained but released before the NTA was filed in court will be typically recorded as "never detained" in court records.)

Fewer Recent Arrivals

The mix of cases also reflect fewer recent arrivals. This is probably largely a reflection of the mix of cases arriving at the court - those from border apprehensions versus ICE interior apprehensions. But this does not necessarily imply that interior apprehensions have actually risen. It may simply reflect that cases referred by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are down so that the proportion of interior cases have risen. According to CBP, apprehensions between ports of entry as well those arrested at border crossings were down sharply in February. See Southwest Border Migration.

Immigration Court records show a total of 41 percent of post-Trump cases had entered the country within 365 days of their entry into this country, down from 62 percent in the last full fiscal year of the Obama Administration when a high priority was deporting recent arrivals to this country, along with noncitizens convicted of serious crimes or who had previously been ordered removed since January 1, 2014. See Table 3. However, this post-Trump percentage for recent arrivals is still considerable higher than five years ago. During FY 2012 only 20 percent had been recent arrivals.

Table 3. Recency of Last Entry into the United States
  FY2017
Recency of Entry FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 OBAMA TRUMP
Total Number of Cases Filed 214,498 201,284 264,658 193,074 242,856 57,233 11,040
Number
Entered within 1 Year 42,339 69,077 140,399 101,650 151,024 36,225 4,549
Entered 1-2 years 5,530 4,585 4,871 5,035 3,051 632 202
Entered longer ago* 166,629 127,622 119,388 86,389 88,781 20,376 6,289
Percent
Entered within 1 Year 20% 34% 53% 53% 62% 63% 41%
Entered 1-2 years 3% 2% 2% 3% 1% 1% 2%
Entered longer ago* 78% 63% 45% 45% 37% 36% 57%
* Includes where date of last entry unknown.

After FY 2012, the large number of unaccompanied children and women with children seeking refuge in this country helped pushed the proportion of recent arrivals on the court docket to unusually high levels during the latter years of the Obama Administration. However, only 110 out of the 11,040 post-Trump cases involved unaccompanied children, and only 210 involved woman with children removal cases. See Table 4.

Table 4. Cases Involving Unaccompanied Children and Mothers with Children
  FY2017
Recency of Entry FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 OBAMA TRUMP
Total Number of Cases Filed 214,498 201,284 264,658 193,074 242,856 57,233 11,040
Number
Unaccompanied Children 11,491 22,324 56,562 31,118 43,929 5,228 110
Mothers with Children* 34 212 33,112 42,690 72,335 15,634 210
Percent
Unaccompanied Children 5.4% 11.1% 21.4% 16.1% 18.1% 9.1% 1.0%
Mothers with Children* 0.0% 0.1% 12.5% 22.1% 29.8% 27.3% 1.9%
* few tracked in Immigration Court records before summer of 2014.

Legal Grounds Cited for Seeking Removal Orders

Over nine out of ten post-Trump cases rely on immigration charges as the basis for seeking a removal order. About 40 percent are for illegal entry, while 51 percent were for other immigration charges. The most common of these other types of immigration charges were for no" current valid immigrant visa," or simply "being present in the country in violation of the law." In only 2 percent of the cases were persons charged with having an aggravated felony, while an additional 6 percent were charged with participating in other types of criminal behavior. There were no terrorism charges, and just 3 cases where the individual was charged with a "national security violation."

While this pattern is not dissimilar to the pattern of charges observed in Immigration Court cases under President Obama, there has been a shift away from illegal entry as the grounds for seeking deportation and a rise in other immigration offenses, such as not currently having a valid immigrant visa which can occur if the person entered legally and then stayed beyond the period permitted under their visa.

Table 5 provides a year-by-year comparison of the most serious grounds DHS cited for seeking a removal order in Immigration Court, while Table 6 lists the top 10 specific charges in post-Trump cases along with similar numbers for these charges in earlier years.

Table 5. Immigration Court Filings by Legal Grounds for Seeking Removal Order
  FY2017
Most Serious Charge FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 OBAMA TRUMP
Other Immigration Violation 24.0% 32.5% 29.5% 41.1% 48.1% 45.4% 51.3%
Entry Without Inspection 59.8% 52.7% 61.1% 47.5% 43.5% 46.6% 40.2%
Other Criminal 11.4% 10.3% 6.3% 7.7% 4.9% 4.6% 6.1%
Aggravated Felony 4.5% 4.1% 2.6% 3.2% 2.1% 2.1% 2.3%
Other Charges 0.2% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5% 1.5% 1.2% 0.1%
National Security 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Terrorism 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% none none

Table 6. Top 10 Legal Grounds Cited as Basis for Seeking Removal Order
  FY2017
Specific Legal Grounds FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 OBAMA TRUMP
All Charges* 354,128 345,047 410,282 282,513 330,490 70,633 11,805
Alien in U.S. without admission or parole [1182a06Ai] 204,256 177,017 235,820 123,018 133,044 30,624 4,739
No valid immigrant visa [1182a07Ai I] 39,948 78,270 98,482 96,435 145,934 29,590 4,181
Any alien present in violation of the act [1227a01B] 30,799 22,126 20,333 15,415 10,855 2,703 1,324
Convicted of aggravated felony [1227a02Aiii] 14,905 12,784 10,455 9,337 7,429 1,518 276
Crimes involving moral turpitude [1182a02Ai I] 11,338 9,055 7,253 6,134 4,713 954 210
Non-immigrant status violators. Any alien who was admitted as a non-immigrant and failed to maintain that status. [1227a01Ci] 7,313 4,589 4,116 3,357 2,235 462 197
Controlled substance violation [1182a02Ai II] 8,972 7,022 5,394 4,558 3,670 720 171
Controlled substance conviction [1227a02Bi] 8,547 7,299 5,889 4,984 3,860 772 166
Fraud or willful misrepresentation to procure a visa, documentation or admission into the U.S. [1182a06Ci] 2,984 3,025 2,503 2,207 1,631 320 69
Convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude [1227a02Aii] 4,521 3,630 2,596 2,198 1,562 322 66
* Statistics are based on individual charges lodged; individuals can have multiple charges. Bracketed references are to subsections in Title 8 of the U.S. Code.

Nationality

Table 7 provides a breakdown of cases by nationality. There are proportionately more cases involving individuals from Mexico (29%) than over the last five years during Obama's presidency (24%), and fewer from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Indeed, during FY 2016 and the early months of FY 2017 while President Obama was still in office, individuals from El Salvador outnumbered those from Mexico in the cases that DHS brought.

Table 7. Immigration Court Filings by Nationality
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  FY2017
Nationality FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 OBAMA TRUMP
All 214,498 201,284 264,658 193,074 242,856 57,233 11,040
Mexico 107,037 75,921 65,962 56,204 51,002 10,842 3,156
Guatemala 20,246 24,631 39,830 35,722 48,365 11,630 1,391
El Salvador 16,694 24,683 51,460 34,090 59,338 13,055 1,344
Honduras 14,166 22,742 57,210 22,730 36,200 8,836 1,079
Haiti 1,861 1,983 1,417 1,351 3,817 2,680 830
China 10,222 7,195 7,405 6,000 5,171 1,324 543
India 1,950 4,385 2,785 3,287 4,678 1,179 453
Ecuador 3,230 4,793 6,066 3,701 3,915 824 243
Cuba 3,581 2,684 1,351 1,240 1,057 258 126
Brazil 1,382 1,007 1,082 1,364 2,693 715 120
Nepal 770 822 894 1,086 1,082 218 111
Bangladesh 341 460 1,046 1,281 1,134 188 97
Dominican Republic 2,977 2,750 2,488 2,104 1,872 328 78
Eritrea 178 148 218 273 352 159 73
Soviet Union 359 333 222 209 239 86 69
Pakistan 618 583 542 730 810 266 60
Nicaragua 1,170 1,367 1,650 990 1,105 349 59
Peru 1,243 1,284 1,314 843 899 234 56
Somalia 273 361 422 851 542 98 46
Colombia 1,500 1,492 1,184 1,117 955 207 44
Sri Lanka 325 246 198 243 191 30 41
Iraq 231 248 316 352 293 102 41
Philippines 1,067 922 731 501 443 80 36
Guinea 213 137 126 124 262 78 35
Russia 681 507 447 485 374 94 34
Armenia 170 179 246 364 543 108 34
Jamaica 1,890 1,661 1,267 1,062 936 189 33
Ukraine 444 345 344 482 445 149 33
Ghana 414 501 492 777 891 123 30
Unknown Nationality 95 99 108 72 72 40 29
Egypt 610 431 486 510 394 88 26
Nigeria 604 686 717 649 556 130 26
Romania 1,016 632 514 512 1,910 176 24
Syria 201 451 327 320 273 64 22
Cameroon 325 402 430 322 516 176 21
Saudi Arabia 156 201 179 193 146 41 21
Burkina Faso 162 167 190 169 141 23 19
Venezuela 627 462 476 405 528 130 17
Vietnam 601 461 418 378 330 61 17
Gambia 304 134 118 119 148 55 15
Albania 252 461 568 166 200 54 15
Trinidad and Tobago 463 416 311 265 226 32 14
Ethiopia 429 544 702 495 350 93 14
Poland 426 293 244 212 205 23 14
Iran 321 305 339 339 203 49 14
Jordan 256 223 304 300 210 43 14
Senegal 246 169 118 119 269 51 14
Canada 691 559 494 377 305 50 13
Turkey 232 206 233 223 205 51 13
Georgia 65 66 50 71 87 20 12
Costa Rica 302 277 239 147 137 35 11
Israel 251 309 346 263 143 28 11
Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan) 145 190 195 163 121 29 11
United Kingdom 335 318 240 195 177 31 10
Uzebekistan 162 142 191 134 148 25 10
Sudan 158 125 157 88 92 25 10
Rwanda 68 109 67 71 36 16 10
Ivory Coast (Cote D'ivoire) 210 142 99 104 88 12 9
Indonesia 274 135 118 97 53 8 8
Mali 235 147 128 119 120 17 8
Belize 197 210 164 118 149 20 8
Lebanon 169 170 131 146 77 23 8
Afghanistan 108 81 95 95 137 38 8
Zimbabwe 100 53 61 42 41 6 8
Burma (Myanmar) 95 69 98 76 64 15 8
Togo 53 29 42 43 77 20 8
Angola 22 33 38 60 55 17 8
South Korea 472 406 330 249 155 35 7
Uganda 112 71 88 66 55 11 7
Yemen 81 93 76 82 85 21 7
Federated States of Micronesia 53 46 62 46 63 32 7
Azerbaijan 43 46 54 41 25 5 7
Bolivia 259 201 239 147 110 21 6
Argentina 177 205 152 125 75 22 6
Congo 82 88 85 100 75 30 6
Libya 63 21 42 35 24 13 6
Kenya 594 352 446 425 201 40 5
Guyana 276 248 224 202 155 31 5
Mongolia 199 98 86 89 63 13 5
Thailand 194 186 165 110 86 15 5
Kosovo 70 76 83 52 75 26 5
Algeria 46 30 33 28 30 5 5
Moldavia (Moldova) 233 201 138 188 104 33 4
Bahamas 150 168 94 86 67 11 4
Chile 148 124 106 90 66 14 4
Kazakhstan 135 123 114 130 76 15 4
Bosnia-Herzegovina 128 131 114 121 88 24 4
Sierra Leone 127 89 93 65 63 26 4
South Africa 88 95 64 47 41 8 4
Malaysia 73 47 56 35 49 5 4
Palestine 24 28 29 17 33 8 4
Bhutan 11 13 15 25 17 8 4
Liberia 240 182 151 126 119 39 3
Morocco 151 124 117 119 76 11 3
Italy 117 112 107 70 85 19 3
Bulgaria 107 70 67 43 44 6 3
Spain 93 98 81 52 47 15 3
Uruguay 84 77 45 43 36 7 3
Stateless - Alien Unable to Name A Country 67 43 39 49 39 16 3
Democratic Republic of Congo 66 78 73 88 89 23 3
Serbia Montenegro 59 60 46 41 36 11 3
Mauritania 57 48 71 68 44 9 3
Cambodia 161 126 106 99 64 11 2
Cape Verde 121 63 41 39 37 5 2
France 90 100 68 59 48 5 2
Barbados 70 36 45 27 22 3 2
Fiji 60 49 38 39 27 6 2
Japan 60 45 38 27 27 3 2
Ireland 59 43 39 31 33 6 2
Taiwan 54 62 42 44 44 8 2
Netherlands 50 50 31 19 18 6 2
Slovak Republic 43 32 18 12 19 4 2
Australia 40 41 41 40 24 8 2
Guadeloupe 10 11 22 16 45 7 2
United Arab Emirates 7 8 15 11 6 2 2
North Korea 7 6 6 1 4 1 2
Laos 256 210 156 111 108 24 1
Panama 154 144 79 86 80 8 1
Germany 133 151 95 95 75 11 1
Hungary 89 58 50 40 36 4 1
Yugoslavia 74 68 61 44 31 9 1
Lithuania 71 53 31 22 22 4 1
Tajikistan (Tadzhik) 64 50 50 55 36 2 1
Grenada 64 43 41 29 25 4 1
Macedonia 56 50 26 35 34 14 1
St. Lucia 53 54 42 37 24 4 1
Greece 46 54 45 20 24 2 1
Tunisia 36 31 41 32 24 4 1
Paraguay 34 28 13 11 22 4 1
Latvia 28 24 24 15 11 2 1
Kuwait 25 22 22 41 15 7 1
Croatia 23 21 8 17 11 3 1
Central African Republic 17 16 18 16 8 0 1
Montenegro 16 14 12 15 13 3 1
The Republic of Palau 16 11 18 6 10 5 1
Malawi 16 11 16 9 9 4 1
Djibouti 15 12 17 15 8 9 1
Suriname 15 5 7 12 10 1 1
Macau 12 11 9 3 5 2 1
Czechoslovakia 10 12 6 1 2 0 1
Norway 10 4 4 3 6 0 1
Netherlands Antilles 5 2 3 3 2 0 1
Namibia 4 4 2 4 4 0 1
Swaziland 3 0 3 4 2 1 1
Solomon Islands 2 0 0 0 0 0 1
Midway Islands 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
Portugal 146 102 81 66 82 15 0
Belarus 117 75 58 69 50 7 0
Tonga 70 36 29 29 20 3 0
Niger 65 42 34 42 32 9 0
Tanzania 64 82 128 52 39 11 0
Burundi 63 60 46 64 52 22 0
Czech Republic 62 51 31 21 22 6 0
Dominica 59 59 27 27 23 7 0
Zambia 45 35 31 28 17 1 0
Byelorussia (Belarus) 45 15 10 0 1 0 0
Antigua and Barbuda 39 37 31 19 18 4 0
Hong Kong 32 13 20 20 23 5 0
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 30 30 32 30 15 1 0
Benin 26 34 34 34 29 7 0
Sweden 24 34 19 14 17 3 0
Samoa 23 26 15 9 16 1 0
St. Kitts, West Indies 22 32 25 18 9 3 0
Turkmenistan 22 17 14 16 13 4 0
Estonia 20 16 17 11 6 1 0
Bermuda 18 9 3 5 2 0 0
New Zealand 17 27 16 25 14 2 0
The Republic of the Marshall Islands 16 25 22 25 16 4 0
Gabon 16 14 19 11 7 7 0
Singapore 15 15 10 5 13 4 0
Belgium 14 24 21 8 10 1 0
Turks and Caicos Islands 12 6 3 4 6 2 0
Denmark 11 8 11 4 4 1 0
British Virgin Islands 10 8 5 0 1 0 0
Cayman Islands 10 6 1 1 3 0 0
Chad 9 17 25 24 14 2 0
Austria 8 13 7 8 6 0 0
South Sudan 7 9 24 8 17 5 0
Switzerland 7 8 7 10 3 1 0
Cyprus 7 5 4 7 1 0 0
Bahrain 7 4 2 7 0 0 0
Niue 7 3 5 0 0 0 0
Anguilla 6 5 2 1 2 0 0
Finland 6 3 3 6 2 3 0
Mozambique 5 4 2 6 6 0 0
Botswana 5 4 2 3 4 0 0
Iceland 5 1 4 1 6 1 0
Mauritius 4 6 1 4 1 0 0
Montserrat 4 2 1 1 0 0 0
Slovenia 4 1 1 3 2 0 0
Holland 3 12 36 5 18 1 0
Zaire 3 10 3 0 0 0 0
East Germany 3 7 20 9 13 2 0
Guinea Bissau 3 3 4 7 6 0 0
Papua New Guinea 3 2 0 0 3 1 0
Seychelles 2 4 1 0 0 0 0
Equatorial Guinea 2 3 5 3 6 3 0
Qatar 2 2 4 2 3 2 0
Comoro Islands 2 1 1 0 0 1 0
Oman 2 1 0 3 1 0 0
Brunei 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Malta 1 6 1 1 2 0 0
Madagascar 1 2 3 3 0 0 0
Aruba 1 2 2 3 1 0 0
Lesotho 1 1 0 2 0 0 0
Upper Volta 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
Gaza Strip 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
Luxembourg 1 0 1 0 1 0 0
Sao Tome and Principe 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
No Nationality 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Western Sahara 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Martinique 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
People's Republic of Benin 0 1 1 2 5 0 0
French Polynesia 0 1 1 0 2 0 0
Kiribati 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
Reunioun 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
St. Christopher-Nevis 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
Cocos Island 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Faeroe Island 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Kampuchea 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
East Timor 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Gibraltar 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
French Guiana 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
San Marino 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Nauru 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Heard and Mcdonald Islands 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Christmas Islands 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
British Indian Ocean Territory 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

New ICE Barriers to Data Access

TRAC will continue to monitor immigration enforcement actions under the Trump Administration as additional data becomes available. We anticipate that we will be able to update these Immigration Court numbers on a monthly basis, as we receive new data from the courts in response to our regular Freedom of Information requests for updates.

Unfortunately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has started withholding other more comprehensive information that ICE previously released to TRAC in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. ICE does not claim the withheld information is exempt from disclosure, it simply claims past releases were discretionary and it is no longer willing to make many of these details available to the public.

Because of these ICE refusals, TRAC is unable to update its online free web query tools that allow the public to view ICE activities under both the previous Bush and Obama Administrations. We are also currently in court on another FOIA action trying to obtain ICE records on what fields of information the agency's databases actually track. Even though ICE released these descriptive documents before, ICE now refuses to provide updated listings describing its data. Our brief in that litigation was filed March 10.

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.