Immigration Convictions for February 2024
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2024 the government reported 2599 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 15.4 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 2024 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-17.5%). 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 81.1 percent from levels reported in 2019.
The substantial 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 29.1 percent instead of 81.1 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.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Immigration Convictions
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 February 2024 (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 February 2024, 530 defendants in immigration cases for these matters were convicted 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 February 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 95.1 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.
Immigration Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In February 2024, 2069 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.
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 February 2024.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,568 1 1 1 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 387 2 2 2 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 46 3 4 4 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 21 4 3 3 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 16 5 5 12 More 18 USC 3 - Accessory after the fact 8 6 12 6 More 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 4 7 8 18 More 08 USC 1324a - Unlawful employment of aliens 2 8 27 16 More 18 USC 554 - Smuggling goods from the United States 2 8 17 25 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 2 8 9 11 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 2 8 17 9 More 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 2 8 7 5 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 4 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 400 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 8 U.S.C Section 1324 that involves " Unlawful employment of aliens ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 347.1 percent — was registered for convictions under " Fraud/false statements or entries generally " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1001 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 70 percent — was " Misuse of passport " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1544 ). This was the same statute that had the largest decrease — 96.9 % — when compared with five years ago.
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 Arizona 745 1 2 5 More Texas, W 524 2 1 1 More Texas, S 335 3 3 2 More N Mexico 103 4 5 4 More Cal, S 89 5 4 3 More Delaware 33 6 31 72 More Fla, S 28 7 6 6 More N. Y., N 16 8 9 17 More Texas, N 16 8 8 9 More Fla, M 13 10 7 7 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The District of Arizona — with 745 convictions — was the most active during February 2024. The District of Arizona was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 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 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of Texas (Houston) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
A recent entry to the top 10 list was Delaware , now ranked 6th . This district ranked 31st one year ago and 72nd five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago — 236.4 percent — was Delaware . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 236.4 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions — 29 percent — was New Mexico . This was the same district that had the largest increase — 68.4 percent — when compared with five years ago.
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 February 2024 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 98 1 8 4 More Rateau, Jacqueline M. Arizona 88 2 125 - More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 65 3 2 13 More Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 60 4 1 2 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 53 5 4 6 More Montalvo, Frank Texas, W 51 6 15 8 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 45 7 9 11 More Briones, David Texas, W 44 8 22 11 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 42 9 16 23 More Zainey, Jay C. Texas, W 35 10 17 1 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 Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 98 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Cardone appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 8) and five years ago (rank 4).
Judge Jacqueline M. Rateau in the District of Arizona ranked 2nd with 88 convicted in immigration convictions.
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 65 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Moses also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 2).
Report Generated: April 3, 2024
