The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during November 2017 the government reported 4,758 new immigration convictions.
According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, this number is down 5.3 percent over the previous month.
In addition, of these 4,758 convictions in November 2017, very few – only 576 or 12.1 percent – involved a prison term of one year or more. This number of 576 is down 10.0 percent from the level of a year ago, and 41.1 percent below levels of five years ago.
Throughout this period criminal prosecution and conviction for immigration offenses involved only a small minority of the individuals arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
During FY 2017, for example, available data indicate there were a total of 486,959 apprehensions by the Border Patrol and by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In comparison, case-by-case government records indicate there were 56,766 criminal convictions for immigration matters – or just 11.7 percent of the total number of arrests.
During this same period there were 8,208 immigration convictions with sentences of one year or more, representing only 1.7 percent of total arrests.
To view the full report, including month-by-month trends, information on lead charges, and the top ranked districts with the most immigration convictions with prison terms of at least a year, go to: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/496/
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse is a nonpartisan joint research center of the Whitman School of Management (http://whitman.syr.edu) and the Newhouse School of Public Communications (http://newhouse.syr.edu) at Syracuse University.
