Immigration Prosecutions for September 2019
The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2019 the government reported 7630 new immigration prosecutions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 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 2019 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of filings was down (-17.5%). Prosecutions over the past year are still much higher than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 10.6 percent from levels reported in 2014.
Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Immigration Prosecutions
The increase 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 September 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 Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts
Top Ranked Lead Charges
In September 2019, 6391 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 52 percent of all magistrate filings in September.
Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (38.9%), "08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens" (6.8%).
Immigration Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts
In September 2019, 1239 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during September there were an additional 1577 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 prosecutions of immigration matters filed in U.S. District Court during September 2019.
Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,252 1 1 1 More 08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 312 2 2 2 More 18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 63 3 4 3 More 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 43 4 3 5 More 18 USC 2342 - Trafficking in contraband cigarettes Unlawful acts 32 5 - - More 18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 31 6 15 14 More 18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 21 7 5 4 More 18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 10 8 12 11 More 18 USC 911 - False personification - Citizen of the US 8 9 19 9 More 19 USC 1459 - Reporting requirements for individuals 6 10 6 21 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 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 prosecutions — up 484.6 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 that involves " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 700 percent — was registered for prosecutions under " Reporting requirements for individuals " (Title 19 U.S.C Section 1459 ).
Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago — down 45.7 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 prosecutions — 31.8 percent — was for filings where the lead charge was " Misuse of passport " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1544 ).
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, S 735 1 2 1 More Texas, W 637 2 1 2 More N Mexico 457 3 4 3 More Cal, S 307 4 3 4 More Arizona 156 5 5 5 More Fla, S 46 6 6 6 More N Car, E 41 7 16 46 More Virg, E 25 8 8 10 More Texas, N 24 9 9 8 More Puer Rico 22 10 14 16 More Utah 22 10 12 9 More Table 3. Top 10 Districts
The Southern District of Texas (Houston) — with 735 prosecutions — was the most active during September 2019. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 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 2 for most frequent use five years ago.
District of New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.
Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Utah , now ranked 10th , and Puerto Rico at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 12th and 14th one year ago and 9th and 16th five years ago.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago — 55.7 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 381 percent — was Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh).
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration prosecutions — 29.9 percent — was Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria). But over the past five years, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth) 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 of this type during September 2019 are shown in Table 4.
Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 221 1 1 1 More Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 158 2 4 3 More Saldana, Diana Texas, S 116 3 17 15 More Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 106 4 18 17 More Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 93 5 8 2 More Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 93 5 2 9 More Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 76 7 6 12 More Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 72 8 7 10 More Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 68 9 9 14 More Alvarez, Micaela Texas, S 64 10 12 7 More Crane, Randy Texas, S 64 10 10 5 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 filings. (Because of ties, there were a total of 11 judges in the "top ten" rankings.)
Judge Alia M. Moses in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 221 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 1).
Judge Kenneth John Gonzales in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 158 defendants in immigration cases. Judge Gonzales appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 4) and five years ago (rank 3).
Judge Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 116 defendants in immigration cases.
Report Generated: October 25, 2019
