Report: 49% of new fed prosecutions are immigration-related

Almost forty-nine percent of prosecutions filed in February 2011 in federal courts throughout the country were for immigration-related federal crimes, the Transactional Records Access Clearinhouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University reported. TRAC Reports, Prosecutions for February 2011 (May 17, 2011). Of the 13,092 cases initiated in February, 48.7% included immigration-related charges such as illegal reentry, 8 U.S.C. 1326, and unlawful entry, 8 U.S.C. 1325. This represents a 93.6% increase from 2006. TRAC Reports, ICE Prosecutions for February 2011 (May 17, 2011).

Immigration-related prosecutions far outnumber the second-highest category of offenses, drug and drug trafficking offenses, which came it at 12% of the total prosecutions lodged in February.