Immigration Prison Sentences of 1 year or more for March 2007
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2007 the government reported 985 new immigration prison sentences of 1 year or more. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 12.3% 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 prison sentences of 1 year or more of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (7.5 percent). Prison sentences of 1 year or more over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prison sentences of 1 year or more of this type are up 46.5 percent from levels reported in 2002.
The increase from the levels five years ago in immigration prison sentences of 1 year or more for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of immigration prison sentences of 1 year or more 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.
Virtually all federal criminal prison sentences of 1 year or more for immigration offenses in March 2007 (98 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 Prison Sentences of 1 year or more in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2007, no immigration cases for these matters took place in U.S. Magistrate Courts which handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses."
Immigration Prison Sentences of 1 year or more in U.S. District Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prison sentences of 1 year or more of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during March 2007.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 8 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 688 1 1 1 More 8 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 182 2 2 2 More 8 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 60 3 3 3 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 10 4 6 5 More 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 9 5 4 4 More 18 USC 1203 - Kidnapping - Hostage taking 6 6 11 - More 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 4 7 9 11 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A 4 7 5 10 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 3 9 7 7 More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 2 10 10 9 More 18 USC 1015 - Fraud - Nat'zation, citizenship, alien registry 2 10 - - More
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 prison sentences of 1 year or more—up 125 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 that involves " Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—138 percent—was registered for prison sentences of 1 year or more under " Bringing in and harboring certain aliens " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prison sentences of 1 year or more compared to one year ago—down 41.4 percent—was Drug Abuse Prevention + Control-Prohibited acts A (Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prison sentences of 1 year or more— 66.1 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 prison sentences of 1 year or more of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Texas, S 206 1 1 1 More Texas, W 157 2 2 3 More Arizona 156 3 3 2 More Cal, S 121 4 4 4 More N Mexico 71 5 5 5 More Cal, C 26 6 6 6 More Texas, N 15 7 7 11 More Wash, E 14 8 13 14 More Oregon 12 9 11 8 More Puer Rico 11 10 18 19 More
Table 3: Top 10 districts
Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 206 prison sentences of 1 year or more—was the most active during March 2007. This district was also ranked 1st a year ago as well as five years ago.
Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. This district was also ranked 2nd a year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 3.
Arizona is now ranking 3rd. The district's position was the same one year ago. Five years ago, the district's position was 2.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Oregon , now ranked 9th , and Eastern District of Washington (Spokane) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 13th one year ago and 8th and 14th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prison sentences of 1 year or more compared to one year ago— 72.9 percent—was Eastern District of Washington (Spokane). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 128.7 percent—was New Mexico .
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration prison sentences of 1 year or more— 37.5 percent—was Central District of California (Los Angeles). But over the past five years, Oregon showed the largest drop— 33.3 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 March 2007 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 38 1 1 - More Briones, David Texas, W 36 2 8 1 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 29 3 3 - More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 28 4 5 221 More Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 24 5 4 3 More Thompson, Gordon Jr. Cal, S 23 6 9 2 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 20 7 11 - More Turrentine, Howard Boyd Cal, S 19 8 34 13 More Kazen, George P. Texas, S 19 8 2 8 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 19 8 10 221 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 38 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Alvarezalso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1st).
Judge David Briones in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 36 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Briones also appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8th) and five years ago (rank 1st).
Judge Andrew S. Hanen in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 29 new immigration convictions. Judge Hanen also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3rd).
