> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2019
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-2-unlawfully-entering-or-remaining-in-the-united-fy2019/
- Published: 2026-11-04T09:51:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T09:51:57.000Z
- Description: The largest yearly count in the table for §2L1.2 is fiscal year 2019, with 22,077 people sentenced. The median prison term was 6 months, more than 99% pleaded guilty, and 69% of sentences were within the guideline range. Trial convictions were few, at 48 people.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-2-unlawfully-entering-or-remaining-in-the-united/) › §2L1.2: FY2019

**In brief:** The largest yearly count in the table for §2L1.2 is fiscal year 2019, with 22,077 people sentenced. The median prison term was 6 months, more than 99% pleaded guilty, and 69% of sentences were within the guideline range. Trial convictions were few, at 48 people.

Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 22,077 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019\. 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## 22,077 People Sentenced in Fiscal Year 2019

The Commission counted 22,077 people sentenced in fiscal year 2019 with §2L1.2 as the primary guideline. That count is higher than the counts for fiscal year 2018 (18,241) and fiscal year 2020 (19,654), and it is the highest for any year from 2016 to 2025 in the yearly table.

The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles the guideline "Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States", and the Commission files these cases under the Immigration offense type. The records do not explain why the count was highest in this year.

Fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.

## Prison Terms

A prison term went to 21,372 people (97%), and 704 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 6 months, a quarter received 12 months or more, and a quarter received 3 months or less.

The median was 6 months in fiscal year 2018 and 5 months in fiscal year 2020\. Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 under any guideline numbered 76,538, and their median prison term was 21 months.

## Guilty Pleas and the Few Trials

A total of 22,029 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 48 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 40% had a written plea agreement and 60% were straight pleas with no agreement.

The median prison term was 6 months after a guilty plea and 13 months after a trial, based on 47 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. That trial group is small, so the median is based on few cases.

## How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range

For 22,071 people with the information, 69% (15,191) were sentenced within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request applied to 20% (4,463), and below the range without a government request to 9% (2,047). Above the range applied to 2% (370).

The share within the range was 69% in fiscal year 2018 and 66% in fiscal year 2020\. Across all guidelines in fiscal year 2019, the share was 51%.

## Mandatory Minimums, Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution

A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 12 of the 22,072 people with that information recorded (less than 1%).

Supervised release followed prison for 12,779 people (58%), with a median term of 12 months. A fine was ordered for 21 people (less than 1%), and restitution for 5 (less than 1%).

## The Full Period

From fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025, §2L1.2 covered 158,846 people. In that period, 97% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 7 months, more than 99% pleaded guilty, and 65% were sentenced within the range. The table gives the count and median for each year.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 15,813           | 9 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2017        | 15,895           | 9 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2018        | 18,241           | 6 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2019        | 22,077           | 6 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2020        | 19,654           | 5 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2021        | 11,565           | 10 months     | more than 99%  |
| 2022        | 11,978           | 9 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2023        | 12,869           | 8 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2024        | 12,550           | 8 months      | more than 99%  |
| 2025        | 18,204           | 6 months      | more than 99%  |

## What These Numbers Leave Out

The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not counted, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.

The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. This post reports the federal numbers on their own.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2019 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.2 (22,077), 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](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-2-unlawfully-entering-or-remaining-in-the-united/) (overview)
- [§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-2-unlawfully-entering-or-remaining-in-the-united-fy2018/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-2-unlawfully-entering-or-remaining-in-the-united-fy2020/) (previous or next fiscal year)
- [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/)
- [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.