Immigration Prosecutions for March 2023
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during March 2023 the government reported 2594 new immigration prosecutions. 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 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 2023 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was up (26.8%). 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 61.6 percent from levels reported in 2018.
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 prosecutions is 40.6 percent instead of 61.6 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.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Immigration Prosecutions
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 March 2023 (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 Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In March 2023, 2096 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 March 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 71.2 percent of all magistrate filings in March.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (20.2%), "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc." (5.8%).
Immigration Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In March 2023, 498 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during March there were an additional 1407 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 March.
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 March 2023.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,321 1 1 1 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 473 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 26 3 3 4 More 19 USC 1459 - Reporting requirements for individuals 24 4 9 19 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 22 5 5 3 More 18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 11 6 4 10 More 18 USC 751 - Escape - Prisoners in custody 3 7 22 - More 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 3 7 8 19 More 18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 3 7 7 6 More 18 USC 1028 - Fraud and related activity - id documents 3 7 12 8 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 3 7 14 14 More 46 USC 70506 - Penalties 3 7 - 22 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 4 five years ago.
Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest increase in prosecutions — up 442.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 19 U.S.C Section 1459 that involves " Reporting requirements for individuals ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 2475 % — when compared with five years ago.
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 54.2 percent — was " Firearms; Unlawful acts " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 922 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions — 84.4 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. " (Title 8 U.S.C Section 1325 ).
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.
Judicial District Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Texas, W 597 1 2 1 More Arizona 394 2 3 5 More Texas, S 366 3 1 3 More N Mexico 129 4 4 4 More Cal, S 119 5 5 2 More Fla, S 48 6 6 6 More N. Y., N 32 7 18 29 More Texas, N 25 8 7 8 More Fla, M 13 9 8 7 More Puer Rico 13 9 9 12 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) — with 597 prosecutions — was the most active during March 2023. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.
The District of Arizona ranked 2nd. The District of Arizona was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 5 for most frequent use five years ago.
Southern District of Texas (Houston) is now ranking 3rd. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Northern District of New York (Syracuse), now ranked 7th , and Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn) at 9th In the same order, these districts ranked 18th and 14th one year ago and 29th and 47th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago — 481 percent — was Northern District of New York (Syracuse). This was the same district that had the largest increase — 197.6 percent — when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration prosecutions — 11 percent — was New Mexico . But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 67.4 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 March 2023 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 322 1 1 1 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 68 2 16 9 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 61 3 19 10 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 50 4 8 3 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 49 5 7 8 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 45 6 5 6 More Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 44 7 10 16 More Hinojosa, Ricardo H. Texas, S 43 8 6 6 More Rodriguez, Fernando, Jr. Texas, S 42 9 9 - More Briones, David Texas, W 33 10 27 12 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 322 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge David C. Guaderrama in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd with 68 defendants in immigration cases.
Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 61 defendants in immigration cases.
Report Generated: May 1, 2023
