Immigration Convictions for September 2019

Number Latest Month 7,373
Percent Change from previous month -10.3
Percent Change from 1 year ago -17.3
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
2.1
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
28.2
Table 1. Criminal Immigration Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during September 2019 the government reported 7373 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 10.3 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 2019 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-17.3%). 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 2.1 percent from levels reported in 2014.


Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Immigration Convictions

The leveling out 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.

Pie chart of agenrevgrp

Figure 2. Convictions by Investigative Agency

Virtually all federal criminal convictions 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 Convictions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In September 2019, 4172 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 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 76.3 percent of all magistrate convictions in September.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (20.7%).

Immigration Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In September 2019, 3201 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 2019.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 2,645 1 1 1 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 335 2 2 2 More
18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 65 3 4 3 More
08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 45 4 3 5 More
18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 15 5 5 4 More
18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 12 6 6 6 More
18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 11 7 6 9 More
18 USC 1543 - Forgery or false use of passport 10 8 13 12 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 9 9 10 11 More
42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 7 10 12 16 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 247.1 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 1543 that involves " Forgery or false use of passport ". Compared to five years ago, the largest increase — 196 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 45.6 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 — 33.3 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, W 909 1 1 2 More
Texas, S 749 2 2 1 More
N Mexico 359 3 3 3 More
Arizona 264 4 4 4 More
Cal, S 189 5 5 5 More
Fla, S 63 6 6 6 More
Fla, M 41 7 8 7 More
N Car, E 39 8 20 42 More
Virg, E 36 9 11 10 More
Texas, N 31 10 7 8 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) — with 909 convictions — was the most active during September 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.

  • District of New Mexico is now ranking 3rd. The District of New Mexico was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria), now ranked 9th , and Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh) at 8th In the same order, these districts ranked 11th and 20th one year ago and 10th and 42nd five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago — 51.1 percent — was Southern District of Texas (Houston). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 121.4 percent — was Eastern District of North Carolina (Raleigh).

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions — 15.4 percent — was Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).  But over the past five years, New Mexico showed the largest drop — 8.4 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 resulting in convictions of this type during September 2019 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Counts, Walter David, III Texas, W 152 1 20 - More
Garcia Marmolejo, Marina Texas, S 123 2 18 20 More
Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 108 3 9 18 More
Zainey, Jay C. Texas, W 108 3 1 - More
Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 106 5 4 17 More
Marten, John Thomas N Mexico 104 6 14 - More
Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 104 6 3 2 More
Guaderrama, David C. Texas, W 97 8 10 13 More
Crane, Randy Texas, S 79 9 6 7 More
Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 79 9 12 11 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 Walter David Counts, III in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 1st with 152 convicted in immigration convictions.

  • Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 2nd with 123 convicted in immigration convictions.

  • Judges Nelva Gonzales Ramos in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Jay C. Zainey in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 108 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Ramos also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 9).Judge Zainey also appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago (ranked 1).

Report Generated: October 25, 2019
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Copyright 2019, TRAC Reports, Inc.

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