US deportations decline in 2017 but arrests of illegal immigrants rise

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Acting Director for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan, right, accompanied by US Customs and Border Protection Acting Deputy Commissioner Ronald Vitiello, tell reporters that deportations are down in the past financial year but arrests have risen. Photo: AP

Published: 2:39am, 6 Dec 2017Updated: 6:11am, 11 Jan 2018

The US government deported fewer illegal immigrants in 2017 than it did last year, even as it arrested far more people suspected of being in the United States illegally, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics released on Tuesday.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed around 226,000 people from the country in the 2017 financial year, which ended on September 30, down 6 per cent from the previous year. The 2017 deportations were lower than at any time during the Obama administration, according to previous DHS statistics.

Demonstrators chanting during a #NoMuslimBanEver rally and march “to protest discriminatory policies that unlawfully target and hurt American Muslim and immigrant communities across the country” in Washington. Photo: AFP

But ICE officers arrested far more suspected illegal immigrants in the months after President Donald Trump took office than in the same period last year. Between January 20 and September 30, the agency arrested nearly 111,000 people, a 42 per cent increase over the prior year.

One reason for the decrease in deportations was that fewer people appeared to be trying to cross US borders illegally. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported around 311,000 apprehensions in the 2017 financial year and 216,000 people trying to enter at official ports of entry despite being inadmissible. That was down 23.7 per cent from the previous year.

“Overall removals are down because the border is under better control than it has been in 45 years,” said Thomas Homan, the ICE deputy director, at a news conference.