1,601 Illegal Reentry Cases in South Texas. The Two-Month Pace Runs Ahead of the First Quarter.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas filed 1,601 criminal cases under 8 U.S.C. §1326, the statute covering illegal reentry after removal, between April 1 and May 31, 2026. The two-month count averages about 800 filings a month, a pace that runs ahead of every month the district recorded in the first quarter, including March, its busiest month so far this year. The district filed 1,956 §1326 cases in the first quarter, about 652 a month across January, February, and March. The average across April and May, roughly 800 a month, is a gain of nearly 23 percent over that pace. March alone produced more than 760 cases, the most of any month in the first quarter, and the April and May pace runs above that figure as well. Of the 1,601 cases, McAllen produced 715, or 44.7 percent of the district total. Laredo accounted for 574, or 35.9 percent, and Brownsville for 214, or 13.4 percent. Together the three border divisions handled 1,503 cases, 94 percent of the district’s §1326 docket.

Each of the three border divisions ran ahead of its first-quarter pace. McAllen rose from about 280 cases a month to roughly 358, an increase of 28 percent. Laredo climbed from 220 a month to 287, up more than 30 percent, the steepest gain of the three and a continuation of the rise that began when its monthly caseload more than doubled in February. Brownsville moved from about 88 cases a month to 107, a gain of 22 percent.

Corpus Christi filed 67 cases, about 34 a month, up from 16 in March. Houston recorded 28 and Victoria 3. Galveston, which carried a small share in the first quarter, did not appear in the April and May data. The caseload falls on a small group of judges. In McAllen, Chief Judge Randy Crane handled 309 cases over the two months, more than any other judge in the district. Judge Drew B. Tipton took 286, and the two of them accounted for 83 percent of McAllen’s docket. Crane’s monthly pace rose about 23 percent over the first quarter, when he handled 378 cases across three months.

Most of the cases have been handled by McAllen judges, with a particularly heavy caseload falling on Judge Crane. This trend is expected to continue into the start of Q1, though it remains to be seen what the final outcome will be by the end of Q2. The Laredo zone has also seen a heavy caseload, while other zones remain relatively stable in regard to caseload. At the current rate, the SDTX district has a chance to break its previous records under this statute. In the first quarter, the district handled 1,956 cases, but at this current rate, a 20% increase over the previous quarter is expected. The Texas Border Examiner will return with district analysis at the end of the quarter.