Immigration Convictions for February 2017

Number Latest Month 4,198
Percent Change from previous month -16.7
Percent Change from 1 year ago -16.3
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Including Magistrate Court)
-27.4
Percent Change from 5 years ago
(Excluding Magistrate Court)
-27.0
Table 1. Criminal Immigration Convictions

The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during February 2017 the government reported 4198 new immigration convictions. According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 16.7 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 2017 convictions of this type are compared with those of the same period in the previous year, the number of convictions was down (-16.3%). Convictions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago. Overall, the data show that convictions of this type are down 27.4 percent from levels reported in 2012.

Bar and line plot of FYMON

Figure 1. Monthly Trends in Immigration Convictions

The decrease 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 February 2017 (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 February 2017, 2552 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 February 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 70.2 percent of all magistrate convictions in February.

Other frequently prosecuted lead charges include: "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" (29%).

Immigration Convictions in U.S. District Courts

In February 2017, 1646 defendants in new cases for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during February 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 February.

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 February 2017.

Lead Charge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien 1,344 1 1 1 More
08 USC 1324 - Bringing in and harboring certain aliens 197 2 2 2 More
18 USC 1546 - Fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents 35 3 3 3 More
08 USC 1325 - Entry of alien at improper time or place; etc. 20 4 5 4 More
18 USC 1544 - Misuse of passport 20 4 4 6 More
18 USC 922 - Firearms; Unlawful acts 6 6 12 13 More
18 USC 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US 4 7 9 8 More
18 USC 1542 - False statement in application and use of passport 3 8 6 7 More
21 USC 841 - Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A 3 8 13 9 More
18 USC 1001 - Fraud/false statements or entries generally 2 10 9 9 More
18 USC 3583 - Term of supervised release after imprisonment 2 10 32 29 More
42 USC 408 - Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties 2 10 11 12 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 3 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 200 percent — compared to one year ago was Title 18 U.S.C Section 3583 that involves " Term of supervised release after imprisonment ". This was the same statute that had the largest increase — 200 % — when compared with five years ago.

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest decline in convictions compared to one year ago — down 58.8 percent — was " Fed Old Age, Survivors & Disab Insur -Penalties " (Title 42 U.S.C Section 408 ). Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in convictions — 74.5 percent — was for convictions where the lead charge was " Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud US " (Title 18 U.S.C Section 371 ).

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, S 360 1 1 3 More
Texas, W 292 2 3 1 More
Arizona 241 3 4 2 More
N Mexico 190 4 2 5 More
Cal, S 142 5 5 4 More
Utah 60 6 8 9 More
Fla, S 43 7 6 6 More
Puer Rico 25 8 14 11 More
Texas, N 23 9 9 16 More
Mich, E 17 10 25 20 More
Table 3. Top 10 Districts

  • The Southern District of Texas (Houston) — with 360 convictions — was the most active during February 2017. The Southern District of Texas (Houston) was ranked 1 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 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 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 1 for most frequent use five years ago.

  • District of Arizona is now ranking 3rd. The District of Arizona was ranked 4 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 for most frequent use five years ago.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were Puerto Rico , now ranked 8th , and Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit) at 10th In the same order, these districts ranked 14th and 25th one year ago and 11th and 20th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth in immigration convictions compared to one year ago — 138.7 percent — was Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit). Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth — 47.3 percent — was New Mexico .

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the largest drop in immigration convictions — 27 percent — was New Mexico .  But over the past five years, Southern District of California (San Diego) showed the largest drop — 55.6 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 February 2017 are shown in Table 4.

Judge Count Rank 1yr ago 5yrs ago  
Moses, Alia M. Texas, W 84 1 3 1 More
Brack, Robert C. N Mexico 44 2 1 10 More
Saldana, Diana Texas, S 41 3 12 33 More
Cardone, Kathleen Texas, W 41 3 23 5 More
Crane, Randy Texas, S 40 5 7 3 More
Hanen, Andrew S. Texas, S 35 6 4 12 More
Kazen, George P. Texas, S 31 7 8 13 More
Martinez, Philip Ray Texas, W 30 8 14 5 More
Gonzales, Kenneth John N Mexico 29 9 2 - More
Ramos, Nelva Gonzales Texas, S 28 10 9 52 More
Olvera, Jose Rolando, Jr. Texas, S 28 10 42 - 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 convictions. (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 84 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Moses appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 3) and five years ago (rank 1).

  • Judge Robert C. Brack in the District of New Mexico ranked 2nd with 44 convicted in immigration convictions. Judge Brack appeared in the top ten rankings one year (ranked 1) and five years ago (rank 10).

  • Judges Diana Saldana in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) and Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas (San Antonio) ranked 3rd with 41 convicted in immigration convictions.

Report Generated: March 20, 2017
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