U.S. Attorneys for Southwestern Border Districts Charge More than 750 Illegal Aliens with Immigration-Related Crimes During the Second week in March.

President Trump has been clear that securing the Southwestern Border of the United States is a priority of the absolute highest level. To that end, the Department of Justice is prosecuting every possible immigration violation, including first-time illegal entry cases, and is seeking a meaningful prison sentence in every possible case.

Last week, the U.S. Attorneys for Arizona, Western Texas, Southern Texas, New Mexico, and Central California charged more than 750 defendants with criminal violations of U.S. immigration laws.

“The District of Arizona has brought immigration-related criminal charges against 232 defendants. Specifically, the United States filed 92 cases in which aliens illegally re-entered the United States, and the United States also charged 124 aliens for illegally entering the United States.”

“The Western District of Texas announced [Friday], that federal prosecutors in the district filed 215 immigration and immigration-related criminal cases. Several individuals were charged with illegal reentry after deportation, after being found in local area jails.”

The Southern District of Texas announced Friday “A total of 245 new cases have been filed. Of those, 115 are charged with illegally re-entering the country with the majority having felony convictions such as narcotics, violent and/or sexual crimes and prior immigration offenses. A total 118 face charges of illegally entering the country, 10 cases involve various instances of human smuggling, and the remainder relate to firearms and assault of federal officers.”

The Central District of California “filed charges against 16 defendants who allegedly illegally re-entered the United States after being removed. Many of the defendants charged were previously convicted of felony offenses before they were removed from the U.S., offenses that include sexual abuse of children. One of the defendants is charged in state court with a murder in Inglewood last month.”

The District of New Mexico “brought the following criminal charges in New Mexico: 38 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S.C. 1326), 5 individuals were charged this week with Alien Smuggling (8 U.S.C. 1324), and 22 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Entry (8 U.S.C. 1325).”

We are grateful for the hard work of our border prosecutors in bringing these cases and helping to make our border safe again.