Non-U.S. Citizens in the Federal Criminal Justice System, 1998–2018

This report uses data to describe U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens prosecuted in U.S. district courts by type of offenses, sentences received for those offenses, and offender demographics. Highlights of the report include: 1) Of the 84,838 persons criminally charged in U.S. district courts in 2018, 49% were non-U.S. citizens; 2) The number of non-U.S. citizens charged in U.S. district courts with immigration offenses increased from 9,875 in 1998 to 32,888 in 2018; 3) About 86% of undocumented non-U.S. citizens charged in U.S. district courts were charged with immigration offenses in 2018; and 4) In 2018, 76% of persons charged in federal district court with a drug offense were U.S. citizens and 24% were non-U.S. citizens.