Immigration Prosecutions for 2018
Lead Charge: 08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.
Number Year-to-date 62,023 Percent Change from previous year 130 Percent Change from 5 years ago 15.3 Percent Change from 10 years ago 25 Percent Change from 20 years ago 2027
Table 1: Criminal Immigration ProsecutionsThe latest available data from the Justice Department show that during FY 2018 the government reported 62,023 new immigration prosecutions for these matters. Those cases had a lead charge of "08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc.". According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is up 130% over the past fiscal year when the number of prosecutions totaled 27,002.
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).
Compared to five years ago when there were 53,789, the number of FY 2018 prosecutions of this type is up 15.3 percent. Prosecutions over the past year are higher than they were ten years ago. Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are up 25 percent from the level of 49,603 reported in 2008 and up 2027 percent from the level of 2,916 reported in 1998.
The long term trend in immigration 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 immigration prosecutions of this type recorded each fiscal year. 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 Categories
Within the broad category of immigration, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.
The single largest number of prosecutions of these matters through September 2018 was for "Immigration", accounting for all prosecutions.
Leading Investigative Agencies
The lead investigative agency for immigration prosecutions through September 2018 was "Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection" accounting for 98.7 percent of prosecutions referred.
As shown in Figure 2, additional agencies with substantial numbers of immigration referrals were: Homeland Security - Immigration and Customs Enforcement (0.9%).
Top Ranked Judicial Districts
Understandably, there is great variation in the number of immigration prosecutions in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts. The districts registering the largest number of prosecutions of this type during the first twelve months of FY 2018 are shown in Table 3.
Judicial District Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago 10yrs ago 20yrs ago Texas, S 30,065 1 2 1 1 4 More Texas, W 15,099 2 1 2 2 2 More Arizona 6,584 3 3 3 3 1 More Cal, S 5,463 4 5 5 5 3 More N Mexico 4,550 5 4 4 4 10 More N. Y., N 146 6 6 6 12 6 More Vermont 32 7 12 15 19 18 More Tenn, W 14 8 - 27 - 10 More Maine 12 9 12 24 25 16 More Mich, E 8 10 14 9 44 23 More
Table 2: Top 10 districts
The Southern District of Texas (Houston)—with 30,065 prosecutions—was the most active through September 2018. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 2nd a year ago, while it was ranked 1st five years ago. The district's position ten years ago was 1st and 4th twenty years ago.
The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 2nd. The Western District of Texas (San Antonio) was ranked 1st a year ago, while it was ranked 2nd five years ago. The district's position ten years ago was 2nd as well as twenty years ago.
The District of Arizona now ranks 3rd. The District of Arizona was ranked 3rd a year ago as well as five years ago. The district's position ten years ago was 3rd and 1st twenty years ago.
Recent entries to the top 10 list were Vermont, Maine and Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit), now ranked 7th, 9th and 10th. These districts ranked 12th, 12th and 14th one year ago and 15th, 24th and 9th five years ago.
Compared to 10 years ago, Northern District of New York (Syracuse), Vermont, Maine and Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) now ranked in the top 10 did not appear in the top ten.
And compared to 20 years ago, Maine, Vermont and Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) were not sufficiently active to then make the top 10.
The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration prosecutions compared to one year ago—837 percent—was Southern District of California (San Diego). This was the same district that had the largest increase—2806%—when compared with five years ago.
Report Generated: April 3, 2019
