The War on Illegal Immigration is yielding more federal arrests than the War on Drugs, according to new figures from the Department of Justice. 

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of all arrests by the U.S. Marshals service were for immigration offenses in 2005, the latest year from which data was available. Immigration arrests rose nearly 15% in the decade from 1995-2005.

By comparison, drug arrests accounted for 24% of the total, growing at just three percent over the decade.   

The increase in immigration arrests can also be seen in the geographic breakdown of the Bureau of Justice Statistics report: Of the 93 federal judicial districts, just five districts along the U.S.-Mexico border in the Southwest accounted for 40% of all the federal apprehensions. Nearly a quarter of all bookings came in the Southern and Western districts of Texas.

Lots of activity in the Southwest 

For the suspects detained on immigration charges in 2005 who fought the law, the law won --- at a much higher rate than drug or violent offenders. Over 95% of the immigration cases ended with a guilty plea or conviction.

Another noteworthy item in the DOJ report: The number of people sentenced to federal prison doubled from 1995 to 2005, placing 375,000 people under federal confinement of some kind.

The DOJ figures in this report are three years old, of course. But recent news suggests the trends have continued, perhaps even accelerated.
 
The full report is available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/fjs05.htm

Reeling 'em in