Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Western District of Texas, FY2016–2025
Immigration cases were 72% of the 76,480 people sentenced in the Western District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 55,237 people were sentenced for immigration offenses, and the median prison term was 7.3 months. More than 99% pleaded guilty.
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In brief: Immigration cases were 72% of the 76,480 people sentenced in the Western District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 55,237 people were sentenced for immigration offenses, and the median prison term was 7.3 months. More than 99% pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 55,237 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 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.
Immigration Is the Largest Offense Type in This District
The U.S. Sentencing Commission sorts every federal case into an offense type. This post covers the type it labels "Immigration" in the Western District of Texas, which the Commission's data calls "Texas West". The period is fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
In that period, 55,237 people were sentenced for immigration offenses. That is 72% of all 76,480 people sentenced in the district. The rest of the district's cases are in other offense types.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced are counted. People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed do not appear.
Which Guidelines Applied
The most common primary guideline was §2L1.2 (Unlawfully Entering or Remaining in the United States), with 42,615 people.
Next was §2L1.1 (Smuggling, Transporting, or Harboring an Unlawful Alien), with 9,460 people. §2L2.2 covers fraudulently acquiring documents relating to naturalization, citizenship, or legal resident status for own use, and it applied to 2,724 people. §2L2.1, which covers trafficking in such documents or a United States passport, applied to 38 people.
Prison Terms Compared With All Districts
50,493 of the 55,237 people (91%) received a prison term, and 4,436 (8%) received probation only. Among those sent to prison, the median prison term was 7.3 months. A quarter received 16 months or more, and a quarter received 3.3 months or less. 1 person received a life sentence.
In all 94 federal districts together, 217,838 people were sentenced for immigration offenses. 95% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 7 months. The share sent to prison was lower in this district than in all districts.
Across every offense type in this district the median was 10 months, and the immigration median was lower than that.
Plea Rates and Trials
55,087 of 55,237 people (more than 99%) pleaded guilty, and 150 were convicted after a trial. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 7.3 months. After a trial it was 27 months, based on 143 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
Among guilty pleas, 13% had a written plea agreement and 86% were straight pleas with no agreement. The records do not show why so many pleas had no agreement.
Position Against the Guideline Range
For 55,077 people with the information, 83% (45,497) were sentenced within the guideline range. 3% (1,873) were below the range at the government's request, and 8% (4,361) were below the range without a government request. 6% (3,346) were above the range.
In all 94 districts, 62% of immigration sentences were within the range. The all-offense figure for this district was 77%.
A mandatory minimum applied to 101 of the 54,889 people with that information recorded (less than 1%). Supervised release was ordered for 41,974 (76%), with a median term of 36 months. A fine was ordered for 3,563 (6%), and restitution for 64 (less than 1%). 55% were in the lowest criminal history category, and 1% were in the highest.
Year by Year
The yearly table lists the number sentenced, the median prison term, and the guilty plea rate for each fiscal year. In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 20,876 people were sentenced. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 34,361 people were sentenced.
The medians in the table differ from year to year. The records cannot show what caused those differences.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3,585 | 10 months | more than 99% |
| 2017 | 3,971 | 8 months | more than 99% |
| 2018 | 5,835 | 6 months | more than 99% |
| 2019 | 7,485 | 5.5 months | more than 99% |
| 2020 | 6,689 | 5 months | more than 99% |
| 2021 | 3,454 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2022 | 4,157 | 11 months | more than 99% |
| 2023 | 5,640 | 12 months | more than 99% |
| 2024 | 6,512 | 9 months | more than 99% |
| 2025 | 7,909 | 7.4 months | more than 99% |
What the Records Do Not Show
The federal cases here come from the whole district. Military installations in the district appear in this site's court-martial data, but their courts-martial are tried in military courts. Nothing in these figures describes those installations.
Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that line cannot be compared.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Western District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas West") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Immigration" (55,237). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.
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)
- Federal Sentences in the Western District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Western District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Western District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Western District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Other Offense Sentences in the Western District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- 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.