Immigration Convictions for January 2008
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2008 the government reported 3406 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 17.9% 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 (25.6 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 142.6 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 26.5 percent instead of 142.6 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 January 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 January 2008, 54 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 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 79.9 percent of all magistrate convictions in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (17.1%).
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 January 2008.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,022 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 303 2 2 2 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 94 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 59 4 4 5 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 24 5 5 7 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 15 6 10 10 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 9 7 8 8 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 7 8 7 4 More 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 7 8 8 9 More 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 6 10 15 14 More 42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors + Disab Insur -Penalties 6 10 12 13 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 "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325. "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was the 3 most frequently invoked 5 years ago..
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions—up 222.2 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1544 that involves " Misuse of passport ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase—383.3 %—when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago—down 47.4 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 convictions— 75.5 percent—was for convictions where the lead charge was " Fraud/false statements or entries generally " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 ).
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 389 convictions—was the most active during January 2008. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 five years ago.
The District of Arizona ranked 2nd. The District of Arizona was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
A recent entry to the top 10 list was Colorado , now ranked 9th . This district ranked 16th one year ago and 22nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago— 34.7 percent—was Southern District of California (San Diego). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 177.8 percent—was Colorado .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions— 18.8 percent—was Middle District of Florida (Tampa). But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop— 3.3 percent.
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 January 2008 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 91 1 2 - More Crane, Randy Texas, S 60 2 6 10 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 51 3 7 8 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 43 4 3 - More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 41 5 1 4 More Collins, Raner Christercunean Arizona 39 6 36 13 More Zapata, Frank R. Arizona 37 7 23 11 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 37 7 4 23 More Roll, John McCarthy Arizona 35 9 19 12 More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 35 9 5 7 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 Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 91 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Alvarezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 2).
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 60 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Crane appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 6) and five years ago (rank 10).
Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 51 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Hinojosa appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 7) and five years ago (rank 8).
