Immigration arrests inside US plummet: report

Immigration arrests within the United States have plummeted to the lowest level in over 10 years, according to data The Washington Post obtained from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Nearly 72,000 arrests were made in fiscal 2021, which was down from the 104,000 arrests made in the 2020 fiscal year, the Post reported. 

An average of 148,000 arrests were reportedly made from 2017 through 2019.

In fiscal 2011, which was a peak year of activity for ICE agents, 322,093 administrative arrests were made, a number that is nearly 4 times the 2021 total, the Post noted.

Under President Biden, ICE arrests within the U.S. began to fall as a result of new limits on immigration enforcement and a 100-day halt on most deportations, according to the newspaper.

Officers working for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations directorate reportedly averaged nearly 12 immigration arrests during the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30. 

ICE spokeswoman Paige Hughes told the Post that the agency is currently undergoing a review of this fiscal year’s totals.

“[T]hese numbers will be shared publicly when the review is complete,” Hughes said. “Data integrity is of the utmost importance to the agency and ICE’s vetted statistics powerfully demonstrate the effectiveness of our current approach of prioritizing national security, border security, and public safety.”

In September, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas implemented new directives for ICE, advising officers that just because someone has entered the U.S. illegally, it “should not alone be the basis” for arrests or deportation, the Post noted.

The agency is set to begin operating under the new directives on Nov. 29, according to the newspaper.