3,356 Illegal Reentry Cases in Q1. How it was.

3,356 Illegal Reentry Cases in Q1. How it was.

Between January and March of this year, federal prosecutors filed 3,356 criminal cases under 8 U.S.C. §1326 (unauthorized reentry after removal) across Texas's two border-facing federal districts The Texas Border Examiner pulled every §1326 filing from both the Southern and Western Districts of Texas through the federal court records system.

Southern District of Texas: 1,956 cases

The Southern District, seven divisions stretching from Brownsville on the Mexican border up through the Gulf Coast to Houston accounted for the larger share of the total.

In January, prosecutors filed 488 cases. McAllen led with 237, Laredo had 118, Brownsville 76. The smaller divisions as Corpus Christi, Houston, Victoria and Galveston combined for fewer than 60. February brought a sharp jump to 677. Laredo more than doubled, going from 118 to 251 in a single month, the steepest increase of any division in either district. McAllen climbed to 282. Brownsville barely moved, up two to 78. By March the district hit 762 cases. McAllen reached 321, Laredo 291, Brownsville broke 100 for the first time at 109. Meanwhile Corpus Christi went the other direction down from 38 in January to just 16 in March, a drop that may reflect prosecutors shifting resources toward the border divisions. Over the full quarter, McAllen, Laredo, and Brownsville together handled 93 percent of the district's §1326 caseload.

Who is hearing these cases

The concentration at the division level means enormous pressure on individual judges. In McAllen, Chief Judge Randy Crane processed 378 cases over the quarter. In Brownsville, judges Fernando Rodriguez Jr. and Rolando Olvera split the division's docket, with Olvera handling 135 cases as the primary §1326 judge. Laredo's three district judges divided the load almost evenly: Diana Saldana took 230 cases, John A. Kazen 218, Marina Garcia Marmolejo 212. Each of them averaged more than three cases per business day for three straight months.

Western District of Texas: 1,400 cases

The Western District covers a different stretch of the border from Del Rio east of the Rio Grande through the Big Bend region and El Paso, then north to San Antonio, Austin, and Waco.

January started with 479 cases. Del Rio dominated at 207 cases. El Paso with 178. Austin had 51, mostly from cases originating along the I-35 corridor. February decreased to 397. El Paso dropped from 178 to 158 Del Rio dipped to 167. San Antonio grew to 27, Pecos and Midland each filed 12. March pushed the total to 500. Del Rio came back strong at 225. El Paso continued climbing to 177. San Antonio reached 32. An important distinction about the Western District: a significant share of its §1326 caseload involves charges under subsection (b)(2) of the statute. That provision covers reentry after removal following an aggravated felony conviction and carries a statutory maximum of 20 years, compared to 2 years for a standard §1326(a) charge. The prevalence of these enhanced charges, particularly in Del Rio and El Paso. Prosecutors there are disproportionately targeting defendants with prior serious criminal records.

Who is hearing these cases

The caseload in the Western District is more spread across divisions, but it still concentrates on a small number of judges. In Del Rio, Judge Ernest Gonzalez handled 380 cases for the quarter, roughly two thirds of the division’s total. Judge Alia Moses took 215. Together they handled every assigned Del Rio case. Del Rio’s 599 assigned cases made it the single most active division in the Western District. El Paso spread the load across four judges. Kathleen Cardone led with 175 cases, Leon Schydlower 171, David C. Guaderrama 88, David Briones 77. All four averaged more than two cases per business day across the quarter. In Austin, three judges split 136 cases: Robert Pitman 58, Alan D. Albright 53, David A. Ezra 25. Judge David Counts covered both Pecos and Midland, taking all 38 Pecos cases and all 29 Midland cases, 67 total. He is the only judge in the district assigned to two divisions simultaneously. San Antonio’s five judges shared 73 cases: Fred Biery 21, Jason K. Pulliam 16, Orlando L. Garcia 15, Micaela Alvarez 12, Xavier Rodriguez 9.

What the numbers show

Federal §1326 prosecutions in Texas jumped sharply from January to March 2026. The Southern District grew from 488 cases in January to 791 in March, a 62 percent increase in three months. The Western District grew more slowly, from 479 to 500, but Del Rio alone surged from 167 in February to 225 in March. Source: PACER / U.S. District Courts, Southern and Western Districts of Texas. Data covers all criminal cases filed under 8 U.S.C. §1326, January 1 through March 31, 2026.