Arrests in the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown have increased dramatically in the past month relative to the Biden administration's numbers, but they are below the levels seen at the start of Trump's second term, the New York Times reports. The administration's goal of deporting millions has led to nearly 23,000 arrests and 18,000 deportations in the past month, federal data shows. At the start of the term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was quick to publicize the number of immigrants caught in its operations each day. People booked into detention by ICE — a rough measure of arrests — peaked at 872 people per day in late January before falling to just under 600 people per day in the first three weeks of February, data shows. This is a significant escalation from the Biden administration: ICE arrested and detained about 255 people each day last year. It also reveals the extent of a shift in immigration priorities under Trump to increase enforcement in the interior of the country.
Deportations have continued to lag. As a result, 4,000 more people are sitting in detention facilities than when Trump first took office. An additional 3,000 people who were detained have been released back into the country. ICE deported an average of 600 people a day in mid-February, the latest data available, compared with more than 750 people a day in the 12 months through November. The drop in deportations is due in part to a simultaneous change in border policy. During the Biden administration, a majority of people detained and deported were arrested crossing the southwestern border. But the Trump administration moved to quickly close the border, ending the asylum process and other Biden-era programs that offered migrants humanitarian relief. Now, border agents are arresting far fewer people than last year and sending fewer migrants to ICE for detention and eventual deportation. Even though arrests at the border are down, the aggressive push to detain immigrants elsewhere in the country has filled detention facilities above the capacity Congress set for funding. At the same time, far fewer immigrants are being paroled or released than in the first few weeks of the Trump administration and during the Biden administration. At the current pace, the administration does not appear on track to detain and deport millions of people this year, but the numbers could still rise quickly. Republicans in Congress have proposed billions in new funding for ICE and other agencies, and Trump has moved to expand the military’s role in immigration enforcement.
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