The Five Most Crime-Ridden

U.S. Judicial Districts Are All

on the Mexican Border  

By Terence P. Jeffrey 

The international border in Nogales, Ariz., as seen on Thursday,

April 22, 2010. (AP Photo)

When measured by the number of criminal defendants charged with

federal crimes by U.S. attorneys, the top five U.S. judicial districts
for fiscal 2009 were all on the U.S.-Mexico border. 
 
In fact, these five judicial districts are the only five on the U.S.-
Mexico border—covering its entire expanse from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Pacific Ocean. 
 
There are 94 federal judicial districts covering the area of all 50
states, plus Guam, the North Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands
and Puerto Rico. 
 
In the Southern District of Texas, which covers a stretch of border
from Brownsville past Laredo, the U.S. attorney’s office filed
criminal charges against 8,801 defendants in fiscal 2009.

That gave that district the nation’s No. 1 ranking for most criminal
defendants charged in 2009, according to data published in Table 1
of the United States Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Report for Fiscal
Year 2009. 
 
The 8,801 criminal defendants charged in the Southern District of
Texas, in fact, was more than four times the 1,959 charged in the
Southern District of New York (which includes Manhattan and the
Bronx) and more than six times the 1,377 charged in the Eastern
District of New York (which included Staten Island, Brooklyn,
Queens and Long Island). 
 
Following the Southern District of Texas as the No. 2 district in the
nation for the most criminal defendants is the Western District of
Texas, which covers the rest of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.

The U.S. attorney here filed charges against 8,435 defendants in

2009. 
 
Rounding out the top five are the districts for Southern California
(5,554 defendants charged), Arizona (5,155) and New Mexico
(3,769). 
 
The 5,554 criminal defendants charged in Southern District of
California—which includes San Diego and Imperial counties and
covers the entire California stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border—was
more than twice the 2,581 charged in the Central District of
California, which includes the nearby Los Angeles metropolitan
area, but does not touch the border. 
 
Not nearly as many criminals were charged in federal judicial
districts along the Canadian border.

 There were 191 charged in the District of Alaska,

 806 in the Western District of Washington,
 468 in the Eastern District of Washington,
 393 in Idaho,
 430 in Montana,
 355 in North Dakota,
 531 in Minnesota,
 567 in the Western District of Michigan,
 956 in the Eastern District of Michigan,
 925 in the Northern District of New York,
 183 in Vermont,
 290 in New Hampshire and
 182 in Maine. 
 

What is going on here? 

The United States Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Report for Fiscal
Year 2009, compiled and released by President Barack Obama’s
Justice Department, is just more evidence that our government is
not doing its job of defending our nation’s border with Mexico.

According to the Justice Department’s own numbers, federal crime

is dramatically disproportionate along that border compared to the
rest of the United States. 
 
The report also reveals that of the 81,577 defendants convicted in
federal court in 2009, 26,538 were convicted in cases the Justice
Department categorized as immigration cases. Another 26,399 were
convicted in drug cases. That means 33 percent of federal
convictions were in immigration cases and 32 percent in drug cases. 
 
“Violence along the border of the United States and Mexico has
increased dramatically during recent years,” says the U.S.
attorneys’ report.

“The violence associated with Mexican drug trafficking

organizations pose (sic) a serious problem for law enforcement.

Mexican drug cartels have taken over some of the drug trade in the
United States and are working with several gangs, according to a
report by the National Drug Intelligence Center titled National Drug
Threat Assessment 2009. According to this threat assessment,
Mexican drug trafficking organizations represent the greatest
organized crime threat to the United States and the influence of
Mexican drug trafficking organizations over domestic drug
trafficking is unrivaled.” 
 
Clearly, the surge in immigration crime and drug crime and the
concentration of crime at the U.S.-Mexico border are inter-related. 
 
“Illegal immigration provides the initial foothold with which
criminal elements, including organized crime syndicates, use to
engage in a myriad of illicit activities ranging from immigration
document fraud and migrant smuggling to human trafficking,” said
the U.S. attorneys’ report.

“Federal prosecution of border crime is a critical part of our

Nation’s defense, and federal jurisdiction over these offenses is
exclusive. Proactive border law enforcement is an important
component of our counterterrorism mission because it is known that
terrorist organizations utilize cross-border criminal activity as a
source of revenue and that smuggling organizations offer terrorists
easy access to the United States.” 
 
Do you think Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama
have read this report? Do you think they will do anything about it? 
 
Top Ten U.S. Judicial Districts for 2009 by Criminal Defendants:
 
Southern Texas ---- 8,801 
Western Texas ---- 8,435 
Southern California ---- 5,554 
Arizona ---- 5,155 
New Mexico ---- 3,769 
Central California ---- 2,581 
Southern Florida ---- 2,514 
Southern New York ---- 1,959 
Middle Florida ---- 1,780 
Eastern Virginia ---- 1,485