Immigration Convictions for January 2007
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2007 the government reported 2734 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 26.3% 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 2007 convictions are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the numbers were down (-11.7 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 141.7 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 convictions is 51.7 percent instead of 141.7 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 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 January 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 Convictions
US Magistrate Courts
In January 2007, 45 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 January 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 83.3 percent of all magistrate convictions in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (11.7%).
US District Courts
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the convictions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during January 2007.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 936 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 300 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 83 3 4 4 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 68 4 3 3 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 30 5 9 7 More 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 18 6 5 5 Details 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 10 7 7 10 Details 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 9 8 6 6 Details 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 9 8 8 8 Details 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 6 10 12 9 Details 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 6 10 11 16 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 "Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546. This statute was ranked 4th a year ago, while it was the 4th most frequently invoked 5 years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 140 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—475 percent—was registered for convictions under " Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 54.7 percent—was Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease— 50.1 %—when compared with five years ago.
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.
Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 359 convictions—was the most active during January 2007. 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.
Southern District of California (San Diego) 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 2.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Oregon , now ranked 9th . This district ranked 14th one year ago and 8th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago— 40.6 percent—was Middle District of Florida (Tampa). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 164.3 percent—was New Mexico .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions— 27.5 percent—was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Oregon showed the largest drop— 25 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 January 2007 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Kazen, George P. Texas, S 66 1 1 4 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 61 2 8 - More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 53 3 9 9 More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 51 4 5 6 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 45 5 6 - More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 40 6 2 - More Briones, David Texas, W 39 7 7 2 More Thompson, Gordon Jr. Cal, S 32 8 12 1 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 28 9 11 372 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 25 10 10 - 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 George P. Kazen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 66 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Kazen also appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1st) and five years ago (rank 4th).
Judge Andrew S. Hanen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 61 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Hanen also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 8th).
Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa in Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 53 new immigration convictions. Judge Hinojosa also appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 9th) and five years ago (rank 9th).
