Immigration Prosecutions for February 2007
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2007 the government reported 3115 new immigration prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 2.7% over the previous month.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with 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 2007 prosecutions are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the filings were down (-10.5 percent). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that the prosecutions are up 139.8 percent from levels reported in 2002.
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 prosecutions is 5 percent instead of 139.8 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 prosecutions is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of immigration prosecutions 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 prosecutions for immigration offenses in February 2007 (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 Prosecutions
US Magistrate Courts
In February 2007, 82 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 February 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 49.4 percent of all magistrate filings in February.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (34.9%), "8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (8.8%).
US District Courts
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during February 2007.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 329 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 119 2 2 2 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 34 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 30 4 4 4 More 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 9 5 8 8 Details 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 6 6 5 6 Details 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 6 6 9 5 Details 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 5 8 6 9 Details 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 4 9 6 7 Details 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 3 10 13 13 Details 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 3 10 14 14 Details 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 3 10 12 11 Details
Table 2: Top charges filed
"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 prosecutions—up 73.3 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 that involves " Firearms; Unlawful acts ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—188.9 %—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 52.5 percent—was Forgery or false use of passport (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1543 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 76.8 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was " Fraud/false statements or entries generally " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 ).
Immigration Prosecutions by Judicial District
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of immigration prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.
The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Texas, S 100 1 1 1 More Cal, S 69 2 5 3 More Texas, W 62 3 2 4 More Fla, S 30 4 6 9 More Utah 17 5 10 8 Details N Mexico 16 6 4 5 Details Oregon 16 6 11 13 Details Puer Rico 14 8 17 22 Details Cal, E 12 9 9 7 Details Arizona 11 10 3 2 Details Colorado 11 10 18 23 Details Fla, M 11 10 8 14 Details Texas, N 11 10 13 16 Details
Table 3: Top 10 districts
Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 100 prosecutions—was the most active during February 2007. This district was ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd. This marked a rise from California South's 5thplace ranking just one year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 3.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) is now ranking 3rd. It moved down in its rankings from a year ago when it ranked 2nd. Five years ago, the district's position was 4.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Oregon , now ranked 6th , and Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) at 10th. In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 13th one year ago and 13th and 16th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago— 38.7 percent—was Puerto Rico . This was the same district that had the largest increase— 126.3 %—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration prosecutions— 50.7 percent—was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Eastern District of California (Sacramento) showed the largest drop— 55 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 during February 2007 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 27 1 3 - More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 19 2 2 4 Details Crane, Randy Texas, S 15 3 4 - Details Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 14 4 1 - Details Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 14 4 23 372 Details Sabraw, Dana Makoto Cal, S 13 6 29 - Details Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 12 7 7 10 Details Huff, Marilyn L. Cal, S 9 8 28 72 Details Moskowitz, Barry Ted Cal, S 9 8 24 21 Details Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 9 8 5 6 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 filings .
Judge Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 27 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Alvarezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3rd).
Judge George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 19 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Kazen also appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2nd) and five years ago (rank 4th).
Judge Randy Crane in Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 15 new immigration cases. Judge Crane also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 4th).
