Immigrants and crime
Whether immigrants, including people in the country illegally, are arrested, convicted, or imprisoned at different rates.
Outline. The research for this insight is not written yet.
How often are noncitizens arrested and convicted in Texas?
Arrests and convictions of people booked into Texas jails whom DHS records identify as noncitizens. Texas DPS labels are shown as DPS publishes them.
No data yet
When the sources are loaded, this will show (answers at: state):
- Arrests and convictions of identified noncitizens, by offense.
- The same, split by the immigration status DPS reports.
How many people sentenced in federal court are noncitizens?
Citizenship of people sentenced in federal court, from the Sentencing Commission, and of people held in federal prison, from the Bureau of Prisons.
No data yet
When the sources are loaded, this will show (answers at: state, national):
- Federal sentences by citizenship and offense.
- Federal prisoners by citizenship.
What the records can't answer
- Answer from ordinary police data. NIBRS and most state crime reports do not record citizenship or immigration status.
- Identify every noncitizen. Texas matches fingerprints against DHS records, so only people with a prior DHS contact are identified.
- Give a rate without an estimate. Rates need the unauthorized population, which is estimated, not counted, so any rate is labeled estimated.
How it is recorded
Not as an offense. Citizenship is a field on jail booking, federal sentencing, and federal prison records, and never on police crime reports.
Where the records are
- Texas Criminal Illegal Noncitizen DataState · TX
Texas Department of Public Safety · Arrests, Courts · html · monthly
Arrests and convictions of people booked into Texas jails whom DHS identifies as noncitizens through fingerprint matching (Secure Communities). Only people with prior DHS contact are identified. Verified September 2026.
United States Sentencing Commission · Sentencing, Courts · sas-spss-stata, csv · annual
Individual federal offender sentencing records by fiscal year; federal cases only, no identifiers.
Federal Bureau of Prisons · Prisons · html · continuous
Citizenship of people in federal prison. Federal custody only; state prisons and jails are not included. Verified September 2026.
- CRD Annual Report on Texas Border CrimeState · TX
Texas Department of Public Safety · Arrests · csv, json, api · annual
County totals for only the top 20 counties by border-crime arrests; last updated 2023.