Email from Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (Aug. 15, 2008).

Greetings from TRAC. The latest available data from the Justice Department show that new prosecutions by Customs and Border Protection during the first eight months of FY 2008 have soared. If CBP's prosecutions continue at the same pace for the rest of the year, the FY 2008 total will be almost twice what it was in the previous year. For details, see the TRAC Report at:

trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/191/

According to the Justice Department, the CBP enforcement surge is the result of Project Streamline, a Bush Administration policy of bringing criminal charges against undocumented aliens.

By contrast, the Justice Department data, obtained by TRAC under the FOIA, show a much less precipitous increase in prosecutions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also in the DHS. For details, see:

trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/192/

Although immigration raids in Iowa and other inland locations have been heavily covered by the media, the data show that a substantial proportion of the criminal enforcement effort -- even by ICE -- takes place along the Mexican border.

TRAC continues to provide free reports on the latest enforcement trends. Go to trac.syr.edu/tracreports/bulletins/ for timely information on prosecutions and convictions that occurred in May for many categories of enforcement such as immigration, terrorism, white collar crime, official corruption, drugs, etc. Free reports are also available for major agencies such as the DEA, FBI, IRS and DHS.

The May 2008 criminal data are also available to TRACFED subscribers via the Express, Going Deeper and Analyzer tools. Go to tracfed.syr.edu for more information. Customized reports for a specific agency, district, program, lead charge or judge are available via the TRAC Data Interpreter, either as part of a TRACFED subscription or on a per-report basis. Go to trac.syr.edu/interpreter to start.

TRAC is self-supporting and depends on foundation grants, individual contributions and subscription fees for the funding needed to obtain, analyze and publish the data we collect on the activities of the US Federal government. To help support TRAC's ongoing efforts, go to:

trac.syr.edu/sponsor/

David Burnham and Susan B. Long, co-directors
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
Syracuse University