§2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025
The Commission counted 18,204 people sentenced under §2L1.2 in fiscal year 2025, which is more than the 12,550 in fiscal year 2024. The median prison term was 6 months, compared with 8 months the year before. Of the people with the information, 71% were sentenced within the guideline range.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2L1.2 Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States › §2L1.2: FY2025
In brief: The Commission counted 18,204 people sentenced under §2L1.2 in fiscal year 2025, which is more than the 12,550 in fiscal year 2024. The median prison term was 6 months, compared with 8 months the year before. Of the people with the information, 71% were sentenced within the guideline range.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 18,204 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.
More People and a Shorter Median Than in Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2025, 18,204 people were sentenced in federal court with §2L1.2 as the primary guideline. The count for fiscal year 2024 was 12,550, so the 2025 count is higher.
Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 6 months. In fiscal year 2024 it was 8 months. A quarter of those sent to prison in 2025 received 12.6 months or more, and a quarter received 3.1 months or less.
The records show the count and the median in the same year. They do not show whether one is connected to the other. Fiscal year 2025 is the latest year in the data, and a single year cannot show a trend.
Who Received a Prison Term
A prison term went to 17,574 people (97%), and 628 (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2L1.2 "Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States". The Commission files all 18,204 cases under its Immigration offense type. Fiscal year 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
Range Position
For 18,200 people with the information, 71% (12,985) were sentenced within the guideline range. A sentence below the range at the government's request applied to 14% (2,499), and below the range without a government request to 7% (1,323).
A sentence above the range applied to 8% (1,393). In fiscal year 2024 the share within the range was 65%, which is lower than the 71% in 2025.
For all guidelines combined in fiscal year 2025, 51% were within the range.
Guilty Pleas, Plea Agreements, and Trials
A total of 18,173 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 31 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 32% had a written plea agreement and 67% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The median prison term was 6 months after a guilty plea and 24 months after a trial, based on 29 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The trial group is small.
Supervised Release, Mandatory Minimums, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release followed prison for 10,936 people (60%), with a median term of 12 months. 3 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 5 of the 18,203 people with that information recorded (less than 1%). A fine was ordered for 11 people (less than 1%), and restitution for 2 (less than 1%).
The Latest Year Against the Full Period
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, §2L1.2 covered 158,846 people. Of those, 97% were sent to prison, the median prison term was 7 months, more than 99% pleaded guilty, and 65% were within the range. The 2025 median of 6 months was lower than the period median.
In fiscal year 2025, everyone sentenced under any guideline numbered 66,662, with a median prison term of 24 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 Cover
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and prison terms are those imposed, not time served.
The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.2 (18,204), 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 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.