Immigration Prosecutions for September 2006
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2006 the government reported filing 2845 new immigration prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.6% 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 2006 prosecutions are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the filings were down (-18.5 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 115.6 percent from levels reported in 2001.
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 20.9 percent instead of 115.6 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 broad pattern of increase in immigration prosecutions over the past five years 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 September 2006 (97 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 September 2006, 73 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 September 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 45.7 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (38.5%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (9.6%).
US District Courts
Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecution of immigration matters filed in U.S. District court during September 2006.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 499 1 1 1 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 158 2 2 2 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and 35 3 4 4 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place, etc. 18 4 3 3 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 13 5 9 6 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 11 6 6 9 18 USC 0911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 8 7 5 5 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 8 7 8 8 18 USC 0002 - Aiding and Abetting 6 9 23 - 18 USC 0922 - Firearms, Unlawful acts 6 9 15 11
Table 2: Top 10 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 "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 prosecutions—up 200 percent—compared to one year ago was 18 U.S.C Section 2 that involves "Aiding and Abetting ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—185 percent—was registered for prosecutions under "Forgery or false use of passport " (18 U.S.C Section 1543).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 60.2 percent—was Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. (8 U.S.C Section 1325 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 57.6 percent—was for filings where the lead charge was "False personification - Citizen of the US " (18 U.S.C Section 911 ).
Immigration Prosecutions by Judicial District
Understandably, there is great variation in number of immigration prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts. The ten districts registering the largest number of prosecutions last month are shown in Table 3.
Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 149 prosecutions—was the most active during September 2006. This district was also 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 4.
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 3.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Oregon , now ranked 10th . This district ranked 14th one year ago and 9th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago— 23.8 percent—was Oregon . Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 200 percent—was Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
In the last year, the judicial district court recording the largest drop in immigration prosecutions— 36.2 percent—was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Oregon showed the largest drop— 26.2 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 September 2006 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 27 1 3 - Crane, Randy Texas, S 26 2 8 - Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 22 3 10 10 Kazen, George P. Texas, S 21 4 2 4 Tagle, Hilda G. Texas, S 19 5 4 5 Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 19 5 1 - Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 16 7 5 - Briones, David Texas, W 14 8 7 2 Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 11 9 9 - Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 10 10 6 240
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 Robert C. Brack in the New Mexico ranked 1st with 27 defendants in new immigration cases. Judge Brack also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 3rd).
Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 26 defendants in new immigration cases. Judge Crane 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 22 new immigration cases. Judge Hinojosa also appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 10th) and five years ago (rank 10th).
