§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021
Fiscal year 2021 has the smallest count in the §2L1.2 yearly table, with 11,565 people sentenced. It also has the highest median prison term in that table, at 10 months. Of those counted, 54% were sentenced within the guideline range, and only 9 people were convicted after a trial.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States › §2L1.2: FY2021
In brief: Fiscal year 2021 has the smallest count in the §2L1.2 yearly table, with 11,565 people sentenced. It also has the highest median prison term in that table, at 10 months. Of those counted, 54% were sentenced within the guideline range, and only 9 people were convicted after a trial.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 11,565 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2021. 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 Smallest Count and the Longest Median in the Table
The Commission counted 11,565 people sentenced in fiscal year 2021 with §2L1.2 as the primary guideline. The count for fiscal year 2020 was 19,654, and the count for fiscal year 2022 was 11,978. No year from 2016 to 2025 has a lower count than 2021.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 10 months. A quarter received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 5 months or less. The medians in fiscal years 2020 and 2022 were 5 months and 9 months.
The records show these facts in the same year and do not show whether they are related. Fiscal year 2021 ran from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021.
Almost Everyone Received Prison
A prison term went to 11,472 of the 11,565 people (more than 99%), and 92 (less than 1%) received probation only. For fiscal years 2016 to 2025 combined, 97% were sent to prison, so the 2021 share was higher.
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles the guideline "Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States". The Commission files these cases under its Immigration offense type.
Range Position
For 11,559 people with the information, 54% (6,227) were sentenced within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request applied to 29% (3,391), and below the range without a government request to 15% (1,749). Above the range applied to 2% (192).
The share within the range was 66% in fiscal year 2020 and 55% in fiscal year 2022. Fiscal year 2021 was lower than 2020 and about the same as 2022. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2021, 43% were within the range.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
A total of 11,556 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 9 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 54% had a written plea agreement and 46% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term was 10 months after a guilty plea and 30 months after a trial. The trial figure rests on 8 people who were convicted at trial and sent to prison, which is too few to treat as a pattern.
Supervised Release, Mandatory Minimums, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release after prison was ordered for 7,259 people (63%), with a median term of 36 months. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 6 of the 11,562 people with that information recorded (less than 1%).
A fine was ordered for 9 people (less than 1%), and restitution for 3 (less than 1%).
Fiscal Year 2021 and the Full Period
From fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025, §2L1.2 covered 158,846 people. Of those, 97% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 7 months, and 65% were within the range. The 2021 median of 10 months was higher than that median.
In fiscal year 2021, everyone sentenced under any guideline numbered 57,287, with a median prison term of 29 months and 98% guilty pleas. The table lists the §2L1.2 numbers for every 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 the Records Do Not Show
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted, so acquittals and dismissals are missing. Prison terms are those 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 2021 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.2 (11,565), 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)
- §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2022 (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.