Rep. Calvert Demands Answers from Biden DOJ on Decrease in Repeat Offender Illegal Immigrant Prosecutions

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41) along with three of his House of Representatives colleagues sent a letter to the United States Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding an explanation for a sudden drop in federal prosecutions of individuals who were caught in the U.S. after being previously deported or removed from our country. In the Central District of California, prosecutions of individuals found in violation of 8 U.S. Code Section 1326 – constituting a felony to reenter the country without permission after prior deportation or removal– dropped from 188 cases in 2018 to only FIVE cases in 2023.

“When it comes to the Biden Administration’s application of the law, Americans deserve answers,” said Rep. Calvert. “With record numbers of people illegally crossing our border every day, it simply doesn’t make sense that there would be fewer people trying to reenter our country after being previously deported. The blatant disregard of our federal laws by illegal immigrants and the lack of enforcement by our nation’s court system is just another example of President Biden’s open-border policies that have created the humanitarian and national security crisis we see at the border and in every community across the country.”

Under 8 U.S. Code Section 1326, it is a federal crime for anyone who has been formally deported, excluded, or removed from the country, to re-enter the U.S. without proper authority.

In 2023, 2.5 million illegal immigrants crossed the U.S. border. Yet, according to publicly available data, in 2023, the Central District of California prosecuted a total of five cases using 8 USC 1326(a).

This figure is a dramatic decrease in the number of prosecutions compared to 2018 when 188 cases were prosecuted under the same statute.