> ## 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, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-2-unlawfully-entering-or-remaining-in-the-united/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:39:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:39:36.000Z - Description: Federal courts sentenced 158,846 people under §2L1.2 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 97% received prison, with a median prison term of 7 months, and more than 99% pleaded guilty. A mandatory minimum applied to only 60 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 **In brief:** Federal courts sentenced 158,846 people under §2L1.2 in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. 97% received prison, with a median prison term of 7 months, and more than 99% pleaded guilty. A mandatory minimum applied to only 60 people. Updated November 2, 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 158,846 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 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](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/). ## Short Prison Terms, Very Large Numbers Guideline §2L1.2 is titled "Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States." It produced one of the largest groups of sentenced people in the federal system, 158,846 over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and one of the shortest median prison terms. Of those, 154,467 (97%) received a prison term, and 4,358 (3%) received probation only. The median prison term was 7 months. A quarter received 15 months or more, and a quarter received 3.4 months or less. ## What the Sentences Were Measured Against The records place each sentence against the guideline range. Of 158,796 cases with the information, 65% (102,429) were within the range. 22% (34,508) were below the range at the government's request, and 11% (17,292) were below it without a government request. 3% (4,567) were above the range. ## Pleas and Trials 158,526 of 158,846 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty. 320 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 7 months. After a trial it was 24 months, based on 313 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Among guilty pleas, 42% had a written plea agreement and 58% were straight pleas with no agreement. ## Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 60 people, which is less than 1%. Most sentences in this group were therefore set without one. Supervised release after prison was ordered for 93,969 people (59%), with a median term of 24 months. 3 people (less than 1%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 186 people and restitution for 24, each less than 1%. ## Year-by-Year Changes The yearly count of people sentenced moved a good deal. It was 15,813 in fiscal year 2016 and 22,077 in 2019, then 11,565 in 2021\. In 2025 it was 18,204\. The median prison term changed too, from 9 months in 2016 and 2017 to 5 months in 2020, 10 months in 2021, and 6 months in 2025. Grouped differently, fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 72,026 people and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 86,820\. The median prison term was 7 months in both groups. The records do not show why the yearly counts moved. | 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% | ## Criminal History and Military Crosswalk 34% of people in this group were in the lowest criminal history category, and 3% were in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that comparison cannot be made. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline. This post reports the federal numbers on their own. ## What the Data Cannot Tell The records count sentences, not the circumstances of each case. They omit acquittals and dismissals, and the terms shown are the terms imposed rather than time served. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2L1.2 (158,846), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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) - [§2L1.1 Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l1-1-smuggling-transporting-or-harboring-an-unlawful-alien/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2L2.2 Fraudulently Acquiring Documents Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status for Own Use: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-2-fraudulently-acquiring-documents-relating-to-naturalization-citizenship/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2L2.1 Trafficking in a Document Relating to Naturalization, Citizenship, or Legal Resident Status, or a United States Passport: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2l2-1-trafficking-in-a-document-relating-to-naturalization/) (same guideline chapter part) - [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.