Immigration enforcement is increasingly going through criminal courts

U.S. immigration policy in the South is undergoing a quiet but large-scale shift. In July 2025, according to data from the research service TRAC, the number of criminal cases reached its highest level in recent years.

What stands out is how these cases are distributed. Most are scattered across different districts where immigration status increasingly leads to prison time. Migrants are being charged more often for illegal re-entry, bypassing the standard immigration process. All this increases the strain on the federal system and on the budget. But more importantly, it changes the nature of enforcement, turning immigration status into a criminal offense.

In July alone, federal prosecutors filed more than 2,600 criminal cases against immigrants — the highest monthly figure since the start