Immigration Convictions for December 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during December 2006 the government reported 2180 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 7.4% 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 2006 convictions are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the numbers were down (-12.5 percent). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that the convictions are up 142.9 percent from levels reported in 2001.
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 53.2 percent instead of 142.9 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 is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of immigration convictions 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.
Virtually all federal criminal convictions for immigration offenses in December 2006 (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.
Lead Charge in Immigration Convictions
US Magistrate Courts
In December 2006, 39 percent of immigration cases took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In the magistrate courts in December 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 59.8 percent of all magistrate convictions in December.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (29.7%).
US District Courts
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during December 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 844 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 284 2 2 2 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 56 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 55 4 4 4 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 20 5 9 7 Details 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 14 6 5 5 Details 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 7 7 8 8 Details 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 6 8 13 9 Details 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 6 8 7 10 Details 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 5 10 6 6 Details
Table 2: Top charges for convictions
"Reentry of deported alien" (8 U.S.C Section 1326) was the most frequent recorded lead charge. This statute was also ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324. This statute was also ranked 2nd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325. This statute was also ranked 3rd a year ago as well as five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 181.1 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 that involves " Fraud and related activity - id documents ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—240 percent—was registered for convictions under " Forgery or false use of passport " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1543 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 52.2 percent—was Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions— 54.4 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " False personification - Citizen of the US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 911 ).
Immigration Convictions by Judicial District
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 last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Texas, S 250 1 1 1 More Texas, W 176 2 2 3 More Arizona 151 3 5 4 More N Mexico 140 4 3 5 More Cal, S 126 5 4 2 More Fla, M 42 6 8 11 More Fla, S 30 7 7 9 More Kansas 28 8 22 28 More Utah 28 8 10 15 More Cal, C 18 10 6 8 Details
Table 3: Top 10 districts
Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 250 convictions—was the most active during December 2006. This district was ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. This marked a fall from Texas West's 2ndplace ranking just one year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 3.
Arizona is now ranking 3rd. It moved up in its rankings from a year ago when it ranked 5th. Five years ago, the district's position was 4.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Kansas , now ranked 8th . This district ranked 22th one year ago and 28th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago— 118.9 percent—was Kansas . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 383.3 %—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions— 47 percent—was Central District of California (Los Angeles). But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop— 1.9 percent.
Top Ranked District Judges
At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. For the entire nation, the judges recorded with the largest number of new immigration crime cases resulting in convictions during December 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 50 1 3 - More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 42 2 7 6 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 42 2 11 - More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 40 4 2 - More Crane, Randy Texas, S 39 5 10 - More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 26 6 1 7 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 24 7 9 364 More Rainey, John David Texas, S 22 8 15 164 More Justice, William Wayne Texas, W 19 9 14 17 Details Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 18 10 8 - Details
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 Robert C. Brack in the New Mexico ranked 1st with 50 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Brackalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3rd).
Judge Hilda G. Tagle in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 42 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Tagle also appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 7th) and five years ago (rank 6th).
Judge Andrew S. Hanen in Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd as well with 42 new immigration convictions.
