Immigration Convictions for August 2008
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during August 2008 the government reported 5767 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 22.2% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants convicted for 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)
When monthly 2008 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (147.3 percent). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 360.7 percent from levels reported in 2003.
The substantial growth in these cases is partly related to increases in the matters filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. If magistrate cases are excluded and only Federal District Court cases are counted, the overall increase in immigration convictions is 45.1 percent instead of 360.7 percent. The evidence suggests that part of the difference may be the result of improvements in the recording of the magistrate cases by the Justice Department.
The increase from the levels five years ago in immigration convictions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of immigration convictions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.
Virtually all federal criminal convictions for immigration offenses in August 2008 (99 percent) were referred by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The two lead investigative agencies in DHS are Customs and Border Protection (CBP) whose border patrol agencies guard the county's borders, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), responsible for conducting most immigration criminal investigations under the immigration laws. See Figure 2.
Immigration Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In August 2008, 64 percent of immigration cases for these matters took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in August the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving the "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 89.2 percent of all magistrate convictions in August.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (8.3%).
Immigration Convictions in U.S. District Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during August 2008.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,264 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 373 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 176 3 4 4 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 120 4 3 3 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 33 5 8 5 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 20 6 6 9 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors + Disab Insur -Penalties 14 7 15 13 More 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 9 8 5 6 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 8 9 12 12 More 18 :02237 7 10 16 - More
Table 2: Top charges for convictions
"Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. "Reentry of deported alien" (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was the 1 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324. "Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was the 2 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546. "Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was the 4 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 219.7 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 that involves " Fraud/false statements or entries generally ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—414.3 percent—was registered for convictions under " Fed Old Age, Survivors + Disab Insur -Penalties " (Title 42 U.S.C Section 408 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 16.9 percent—was Fraud and related activity - id documents (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions— 45.7 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " False personification - Citizen of the US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 911 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of immigration convictions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of convictions of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 559 convictions—was the most active during August 2008. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of California (San Francisco), now ranked 9th , and Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids) at 5th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 30th one year ago and 21st and 36th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago— 852.9 percent—was Northern District of Iowa (Cedar Rapids). This was the same district that had the largest increase— 1372.7 %—when compared with five years ago.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new immigration crime cases resulting in convictions of this type during August 2008 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 99 1 9 15 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 89 2 7 8 More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 80 3 3 5 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 80 3 2 - More Reade, Linda R. Iowa, N 78 5 67 143 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 66 6 5 4 More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 59 7 6 3 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 56 8 12 432 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 46 9 8 6 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 46 9 10 432 More
Table 4: Top 10 judges
All 10 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of immigration convictions .
Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 99 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Hinojosaalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 9).
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 89 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Crane appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 7) and five years ago (rank 8).
Judges George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 80 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Kazen appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 3) and five years ago (rank 5).Judge Alvarezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 2).
