§2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in the data for §2L1.1. The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 3,957 people sentenced, and the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 5.6 months or less, and 53% of all sentences were within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Ali › §2L1.1: FY2025
In brief: Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in the data for §2L1.1. The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 3,957 people sentenced, and the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 5.6 months or less, and 53% of all sentences were within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 3,957 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
The Latest Year at a Glance
The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. In it, 3,957 people were sentenced with §2L1.1 as the primary guideline. The Commission lists these cases under its Immigration offense type.
Prison went to 3,577 people (90%). Probation only, with no prison or other confinement, went to 308 (8%). One person received a life sentence.
The median prison term was 12 months. The shortest quarter of prison terms were 5.6 months or less, and the longest quarter were 21 months or more. The terms are as imposed, not time served.
Guideline Range Results
Range information was available for 3,956 people. A sentence within the range went to 53% (2,099). A sentence below the range at the government's request went to 33% (1,294). Below the range with no request: 9% (351). Above the range: 5% (212).
The year before, 2024, had 52% within the range. For every guideline in fiscal year 2025, the figure was 51%.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 92 people (2%).
Guilty Pleas, Trials, and Agreements
A total of 3,922 people pleaded guilty, which is more than 99%. Another 35 were convicted after a trial.
The median prison term was 12 months after a plea and 27 months after a trial. The trial median is from 33 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison. A written plea agreement covered 77% of guilty pleas, and 23% were straight pleas.
After Prison
Supervised release was ordered for 3,158 people (80%), and the median term was 36 months. A fine was ordered for 600 people (15%), and restitution was ordered for 23 (less than 1%).
Who Was in Which Criminal History Category
In this year, 71% of the people were in category I, the lowest criminal history category. Category VI, the highest, held 2%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Other Years and Limits
The Manual title is "Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien." The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
The previous year had 4,345 people and a median of 12 months. Over all fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 35,550 people were sentenced under this guideline, 88% went to prison, and the median was 12 months.
All guidelines in fiscal year 2025 covered 66,662 people, with a median prison term of 24 months and 98% guilty pleas. The table lists each year for §2L1.1.
Only convicted and sentenced people appear. The data cannot show what happened in any case or why courts set particular sentences.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,423 | 13 months | 99% |
| 2017 | 2,765 | 13 months | 98% |
| 2018 | 2,843 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2019 | 3,487 | 12 months | 99% |
| 2020 | 3,392 | 11.4 months | 99% |
| 2021 | 3,551 | 13 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 4,056 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 4,731 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2024 | 4,345 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 3,957 | 12 months | more than 99% |
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.1 (3,957), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.