> ## 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.

# 8 U.S.C. 1326, Reentry of removed aliens: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1326-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:55:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:55:05.000Z
- Description: 8 U.S.C. 1326 was the most serious charge for 172,681 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and every one of those charges was a felony. Guilty pleas ended 169,062 cases (98%), and only 336 reached trial. Of the 169,320 convicted, 164,026 (97%) received a prison term on
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 8 U.S.C. 1326

**In brief:** 8 U.S.C. 1326 was the most serious charge for 172,681 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, and every one of those charges was a felony. Guilty pleas ended 169,062 cases (98%), and only 336 reached trial. Of the 169,320 convicted, 164,026 (97%) received a prison term on the charge, and the median term was 12 months.

Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 172,681 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced 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/).

## Where the Numbers Come From

Title 8, section 1326 of the U.S. Code bears the heading "Reentry of removed aliens." This post covers how federal cases under that section ended, and nothing about the conduct in any case.

The Federal Judicial Center data includes each defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end was under this section. Dismissed and acquitted defendants are part of the count.

## A Felony Charge in Every Case

All 172,681 defendants (100%) faced this section as a felony. The records list no Class A misdemeanors and no petty offenses.

Of the 169,320 people convicted, 164,026 (97%) were sentenced to a prison term on this charge. Among terms of 1 month or more, the median term was 12 months. The median marks the middle of the ranked terms and does not describe the range. The records list 2 life sentences.

## Guilty Pleas and Dismissals

Nearly all cases ended in a guilty plea: 169,062 (98%). Charges were dismissed for 3,283 defendants (2%). Dismissals in these records include cases the government dismissed after a defendant pleaded guilty in a separate case.

Counting both pleas and trial verdicts, 169,320 of the 172,681 (98%) were convicted.

## Bench Trials and Jury Trials

Trials made up less than 1% of the cases: 336 defendants. Of those trials, 78 ended in an acquittal (23%).

Judges sitting without a jury decided 171 trials, and 55 of those ended in an acquittal (32%). Juries decided 165, with 23 acquittals (14%). The acquittal rate was higher in bench trials than in jury trials. The records do not show which cases went to which kind of trial, or why.

## Type of Counsel at the End of the Case

Federal public or community defenders represented 117,042 defendants (68%). CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed and paid by the court, represented 50,998 (30%). Private (retained) counsel represented 4,215 (2%), and 9 defendants represented themselves.

Plea rates were 98% for federal defenders, 99% for CJA panel attorneys, and 97% for private counsel. Trial acquittals were 63 of 232 for federal defenders (27%), 7 of 82 for CJA panel attorneys (9%), and 8 of 22 for private counsel (36%).

These rates describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. The groups differ in their charges and circumstances, and the private counsel group had few trials.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 117,042    | 98%            | 2%        | 232    | 63 (27%)           |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 50,998     | 99%            | 1%        | 82     | 7 (9%)             |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 4,215      | 97%            | 2%        | 22     | 8 (36%)            |
| Self-represented                       | 9          | 9 of 9         | 0 of 9    | 0      | 0                  |

## Fiscal Year Counts

Fiscal year 2019 had the most cases ending, 24,530\. Fiscal year 2021 had the fewest, 12,641\. The guilty plea rate was 98% in every year except fiscal year 2019, when it was 97%.

Yearly trial counts ranged from 18 to 60\. With trials this few, the yearly acquittal rates in the table move with a small number of verdicts.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 16,577      | 98%            | 2%        | 27     | 6 (22%)            |
| 2017        | 16,690      | 98%            | 2%        | 34     | 7 (21%)            |
| 2018        | 19,689      | 98%            | 2%        | 34     | 8 (24%)            |
| 2019        | 24,530      | 97%            | 2%        | 60     | 15 (25%)           |
| 2020        | 22,246      | 98%            | 2%        | 58     | 10 (17%)           |
| 2021        | 12,641      | 98%            | 2%        | 21     | 5 (24%)            |
| 2022        | 12,769      | 98%            | 2%        | 30     | 7 (23%)            |
| 2023        | 13,792      | 98%            | 2%        | 18     | 7 (39%)            |
| 2024        | 13,454      | 98%            | 2%        | 24     | 4 (17%)            |
| 2025        | 20,293      | 98%            | 2%        | 30     | 9 (30%)            |

## Beyond the Records

The data groups cases by the final most serious charge. It holds no evidence, no case facts, and no reason for any dismissal or verdict. Because the approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this section, the post compares nothing with military courts.

### How We Counted

Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 8 U.S.C. 1326, any subsection (172,681), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4\. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).

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

**Who is in each set of numbers.** The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.

**How "plea" and "trial" are counted.** In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.

**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.

**Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers.** The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.

## 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)
- [8 U.S.C. 1324, Bringing in and harboring certain aliens: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1324-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [8 U.S.C. 1325, Improper entry by alien: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-8-usc-1325-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/)
- [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/)
- [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.