Arrests by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol have hit a 45-year low but Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-led arrests have surged, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Homeland Security.
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ICE deported nearly 226,000 people from the United States in the 2017 fiscal year by the end of September, which is 6 percent less than the previous year.
But, ICE arrests between January and September rose by a staggering 42 percent compared to the previous year, with the agency putting nearly 111,000 people behind the bars.
"These results are proof of what the men and women of ICE can accomplish when they are empowered to fulfill their mission. We need to maintain this momentum by matching the dedication and drive of our personnel with the resources they need to perform at even higher levels." Thomas Homan, ICE Deputy Director, said, according to Mic.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who picked immigration as one of the key areas to focus on, is keeping his promise by cracking down heavily on immigration policies.
In September, he announced the rescinding of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA. And, most recently, the U.S. president put the lives of some 300,000 people – who were protected under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – in limbo.
TPS is an immigration program which allows people from countries recovering from disaster – mainly Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti – to live and work in the U.S. legally.