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ST. LOUIS — Federal prosecutors here are cracking down on immigration violations following directives from the U.S. Justice Department.

At least 26 people were charged with immigration-related felonies in the eastern part of Missouri over the past three months, compared with just two charges during the same period in 2024. None were charged over those same months in 2023, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of court records.

Most are charged with reentering the country after being previously deported — some on multiple occasions. A few have prior convictions for things like drug possession, domestic violence and driving while intoxicated. At least a few have little to no documented criminal history in the U.S.

Their charges come as federal prosecutors across the country respond to President Donald Trump’s orders to deport people residing in the country illegally. During the third week of April alone, in six southwestern border districts with immigration-related crimes. Last week, in southern Illinois.

“It’s obviously a departure from past tradition,â€� said Richard T. Middleton IV, an immigration lawyer and political science professor at the University of Missouri-ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Eastern Missouri, based in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, declined to comment for this story.

For years, federal authorities have struggled to quell a surge of immigrants coming to the U.S. through its southern border.

Trump took a hard line on immigration during his first term in 2016. He promised to build a wall on the southern border, crack down on cities that protected immigrants and impose a “zero tolerance� policy to prosecute suspected border crossers.

His platform remained tough on border crossings in his most recent campaign and blamed former President Joe Biden for tolerating an influx of immigration on his watch.

In February, the U.S. Department of Justice outlining a priority to “use all available criminal statutes to combat the flood of illegal immigration.�

Since then, federal prosecutors in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ have charged more than two dozen people with immigration-related offenses.

The vast majority come from Mexico, court records say. Others hail from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Several have previous convictions.

One man, Adrian Stocia, was charged with using a sleight-of-hand technique to buy gift cards at Target without paying the full price. He illegally reentered the country after he was ordered to be deported to Romania, court documents say.

Another man, Alvaro Zavala-Mendez, was convicted of domestic battery in Indiana, court records say. Another, Daniel Lopez, has a pending burglary case from 2007 and was convicted of domestic violence, prosecutors say.

At least five of the 26 people who have been charged have previous convictions for driving while intoxicated.

And many of them have been deported multiple times. One man was sent back to Mexico at least four times, including in 2016 and 2017.

Some have repeatedly returned to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area, court records show. One man worked as a roofer in the region for about a decade but was deported on multiple occasions. Another man has three children in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area and was previously deported in 2011.

Immigration lawyers note that it is not necessarily a crime to enter the country without authorization or to overstay on a work permit or visa. Instead, people may be subject to a civil penalty and deportation through the country’s immigration court system. Those who are deported are then barred from reentering the country.

If people cross the border for a second time, that constitutes the criminal offense of illegal reentry, carrying a penalty of up to two years in prison.

But for decades, officials have been reluctant to use sometimes scarce resources to prosecute people when they could be more quickly deported through the immigration system, said local immigration attorney David Cox.

Once someone is deported for a second time, they are no longer eligible for U.S. citizenship, even if they weren’t convicted of a crime.

“What they’re doing by taking this approach (of charging people) is saying, ‘That’s not enough for us,’� Cox said. “We’re making sure you’re criminally punished somehow.�

Middleton, the immigration professor, said there are many ways someone can fly under the radar of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. A municipal charge might not get flagged by federal authorities, whereas a more serious state or federal offense may merit more attention.

But even that is subject to resources and priorities: There are a finite number of immigration officers and dozens of municipalities in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area alone.

“Do I go pick up Juan Doe who’s over here in Vinita Park who has no other record, or should I go pick up this person who has a prior deportation order who’s a higher priority?� Middleton said. “The nature of the crime matters.�

But Middleton said he didn’t expect them to reverse course any time soon.

“Would I be surprised to see that be a continued trend?� he asked. “No.�