Immigration Prosecutions for May 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during May 2017 the government reported 4652 new immigration prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 26.8 percent 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 2017 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-30.2%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 41 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The decrease from the levels five years ago in immigration prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of immigration prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court, the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends. 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 prosecutions for immigration offenses in May 2017 (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 Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In May 2017, 3839 defendants in immigration cases for these matters were filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court where subsequent proceedings take place.
In the magistrate courts in May the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1326 involving "Reentry of deported alien". This was the lead charge for 47.4 percent of all magistrate filings in May.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (45.6%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (5%).
Immigration Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In May 2017, 813 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during May there were an additional 916 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and therefore cover all matters filed in district court during May.
Top Ranked Lead Charges
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during May 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,421 1 1 1 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 202 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 32 3 3 3 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 17 4 5 4 More 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 16 5 4 5 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 5 6 10 10 More 18 USC 1341 - Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles 5 6 32 27 More 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 5 6 6 7 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 3 9 6 11 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 3 9 10 13 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 3 9 32 35 More Table 2. Top Charges Filed
"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 ranked 1 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. "Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" under Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.
Ranked 3rd was "Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546. "Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents" under Title 18 U.S.C Section 1546 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 400 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1341 that involves " Mail Fraud - Frauds and swindles ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 400 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Importation of controlled substances " (Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 44.4 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 prosecutions — 68.1 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " False statement in application and use of passport " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1542 ).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
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 of this type last month are shown in Table 3.
The Southern District of Texas (Houston) — with 333 prosecutions — was the most active during May 2017. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of Arizona is now ranking 3rd. The District of Arizona was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), now ranked 9th , and Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 39th and 39th one year ago and 55th and 56th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago — 81.8 percent — was Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 110.5 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration prosecutions — 44.2 percent — was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Arizona showed the largest drop — 38.3 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 of this type during May 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 78 1 2 1 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 70 2 3 - More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 59 3 1 2 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 40 4 4 12 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 39 5 5 10 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 36 6 10 3 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 36 6 9 - More Junell, Robert A. Texas, W 36 6 23 20 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 32 9 5 4 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 28 10 11 30 More Table 4. Top Ten 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 Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 78 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 2) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 70 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Gonzales also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 59 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 2).
Report Generated: July 6, 2017
