Prosecutions for 2018
Lead Charge: 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.
Number Year-to-date 18,404 Percent Change from previous year 36 Percent Change from 5 years ago -31.6 Percent Change from 10 years ago -25.9 Percent Change from 20 years ago 1145
Table 1: Criminal ProsecutionsThe latest available data from the Justice Department show that during the first six months of FY 2018 the government reported 18,404 new prosecutions for these matters. Those cases had a lead charge of "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". If this activity continues at the same pace, the annual total of prosecutions will be 36,808 for this fiscal year. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this estimate is up 36% over the past fiscal year when the number of prosecutions totaled 27,073.
The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with 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).
Compared to five years ago when there were 53,822, the estimate of FY 2018 prosecutions of this type is down 31.6 percent. Prosecutions over the past year are lower than they were ten years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 25.9 percent from the level of 49,663 reported in 2008 but up 1145 percent from the level of 2,956 reported in 1998.
The long term trend in prosecutions for these matters going back to FY 1998 is shown more clearly in Figure 1. The vertical bars in Figure 1 represent the number of prosecutions of this type recorded each fiscal year. Projected figures for the current fiscal year are shown. Each presidential administration is distinguished by the color of the bars. To view trends month-by-month rather than year-by-year, see TRAC's monthly report series for the latest data.
Leading Program Areas
Cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types. The single largest number of prosecutions of these matters through March 2018 was for "Immigration", accounting for 99.8 percent of prosecutions.
The second largest number of matters were Prosecutions filed under the program area of "Civil Rights " (0.2%) .
Leading Investigative Agencies
The lead investigative agency for prosecutions through March 2018 was "Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection" accounting for 99.1 percent of prosecutions referred.
As shown in Figure 3, additional agencies with substantial numbers of referrals were: Homeland Security - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (0.4%).
Judicial District Percapita Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 10yrs ago 20yrs ago N Mexico 2,160 2,247 1 3 3 3 9 More Texas, W 1,635 5,800 2 1 2 1 2 More Texas, S 1,283 6,165 3 2 1 2 6 More Arizona 922 3,196 4 4 4 4 1 More Cal, S 528 924 5 5 5 5 3 More N. Y., N 28 47 6 6 6 11 5 More N Dakota 16 6 7 7 12 22 - More W Virg, N 4 2 8 - - - - More Vermont 3 1 9 8 9 9 11 More Maine 2 1 10 12 21 26 12 More
Table 2: Top 10 districts (per one million people)
A recent entry to the top 10 list was Maine, now ranked 10th. This district ranked 12th one year ago and 21st five years ago.
Compared to 10 years ago, Northern District of New York (Syracuse), North Dakota and Maine now ranked in the top 10 did not appear in the top ten.
And compared to 20 years ago, Vermont and Maine were not sufficiently active to then make the top 10.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest projected growth in the rate of prosecutions compared to one year ago—213 percent—was Southern District of California (San Diego). This was the same district that had the largest projected increase—854%—when compared with five years ago.
In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest projected drop in the rate of prosecutions—50.0 percent—was Vermont.
Report Generated: May 16, 2018
