Immigration Convictions for January 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during January 2019 the government reported 10389 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 31.7 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 2019 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was up (101.7%). Convictions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are up 66.7 percent from levels reported in 2014.
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 convictions is 17.9 percent instead of 66.7 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 increase 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 January 2019 (100 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 January 2019, 7903 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 January 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 92.4 percent of all magistrate convictions in January.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (7.4%).
Immigration Convictions in U.S. District Courts
In January 2019, 2486 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during January 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 January.
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 January 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,892 1 1 1 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 342 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 78 3 4 3 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 65 4 3 4 More 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 61 5 5 5 More 18 USC 3 - Accessory after the fact 10 6 21 16 More 19 USC 1459 - Reporting requirements for individuals 7 7 21 15 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 6 8 6 7 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 5 9 12 12 More 21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 4 10 13 12 More 21 USC 952 - Importation of controlled substances 4 10 19 30 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 "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 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in convictions — up 2500 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 3 that involves " Accessory after the fact ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 1200 percent — was registered for convictions 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 convictions compared to one year ago — down 44.2 percent — was " Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 26.1 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Fraud and related activity - id documents " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1028 ).
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, W 654 1 1 2 More Texas, S 564 2 2 1 More Cal, S 515 3 3 5 More N Mexico 210 4 4 4 More Arizona 90 5 5 3 More Fla, M 28 6 8 8 More Ohio, N 24 7 40 67 More Texas, N 24 7 9 11 More Mich, E 19 9 10 12 More Tenn, E 19 9 45 56 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) — with 654 convictions — was the most active during January 2019. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
The Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of California (San Diego) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland), now ranked 7th , and Eastern District of Tennessee (Knoxville) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 40th and 45th one year ago and 67th and 56th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago — 203.8 percent — was Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 690 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions — 9.6 percent — was Southern District of California (San Diego). But over the past five years, Arizona showed the largest drop — 14.8 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 January 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 103 1 - - More Zainey, Jay C. Texas, W 96 2 22 - More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 94 3 15 8 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 78 4 3 3 More Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 75 5 6 4 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 71 6 2 2 More Rainey, John David Texas, S 64 7 24 20 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 62 8 10 13 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 60 9 4 6 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 55 10 5 7 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 55 10 8 14 More Table 4. Top Ten Judges
All 11 of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of immigration convictions. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 103 convicted in immigration convictions.
Judge Jay C. Zainey in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 96 convicted in immigration convictions.
Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 94 convicted in immigration convictions.
Report Generated: March 19, 2019
