Immigration Convictions for September 2017
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2017 the government reported 4759 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 22.3 percent 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 2017 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-10%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 40.5 percent from levels reported in 2012.
The dip 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 decrease in immigration convictions is 17.3 percent instead of 40.5 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 decrease 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. 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 convictions for immigration offenses in September 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 Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2017, 3131 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 September the most frequently cited lead charge was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 involving "Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". This was the lead charge for 78.8 percent of all magistrate convictions in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (20.3%).
Immigration Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2017, 1628 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 0 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 September.
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 September 2017.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,271 1 1 1 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 206 2 2 2 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 52 3 5 4 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 50 4 3 3 More 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 12 5 4 5 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 6 6 10 10 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 5 7 7 12 More 18 USC 1015 - Fraud - Nat'zation, citizenship, alien registry 4 8 9 20 More 18 USC 1425 - Procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlaw 4 8 13 22 More 18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 4 8 6 7 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 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 "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 5 a year ago, while it was ranked 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 100 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 that involves " Fraud/false statements or entries generally ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 266.7 percent — was registered for convictions under " Procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlaw " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1425 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 60 percent — was " Fraud - Nat'zation, citizenship, alien registry " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1015 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 73.8 percent — was for convictions 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 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.
Judicial District Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Texas, S 347 1 2 3 More Texas, W 209 2 3 1 More N Mexico 208 3 1 5 More Cal, S 181 4 5 4 More Arizona 164 5 4 2 More Fla, S 64 6 6 6 More Utah 46 7 7 12 More Texas, N 44 8 7 17 More Mich, E 23 9 12 25 More Nebraska 19 10 25 21 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of Texas (Houston) — with 347 convictions — was the most active during September 2017. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 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 New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), now ranked 9th , and Nebraska at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 25th one year ago and 25th and 21st five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago — 142.3 percent — was Utah . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 129.9 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions — 40.1 percent — was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 39.9 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 September 2017 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 64 1 8 9 More Johnson, William Paul N Mexico 63 2 4 57 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 53 3 1 1 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 48 4 3 - More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 48 4 19 7 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 37 6 11 36 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 33 7 7 3 More Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 29 8 9 11 More Skomal, Bernard G. Cal, S 27 9 102 251 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 27 9 18 8 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 convictions.
Judge Micaela Alvarez in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 64 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Alvarez appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8) and five years ago (rank 9).
Judge William Paul Johnson in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 63 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Johnson also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 4).
Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 3rd with 53 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Report Generated: November 22, 2017
