The US is seeing more and more asylum seekers turn themselves in at the US-Mexico border in anticipation of the lifting of Title 42.
Rebecca Noble/AFP via Getty Images
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Rebecca Noble/AFP via Getty Images
The US is seeing more and more asylum seekers turn themselves in at the US-Mexico border in anticipation of the lifting of Title 42.
Rebecca Noble/AFP via Getty Images
Immigration and Customs Enforcement made more arrests and deportations this past financial year after falling to a significantly low level during the pandemic.
Between October 2021 and September 30, immigration authorities made more than 142,000 arrests. This is almost double the figure made in the previous year, according to government figures released last month.
ICE has also made more than 72,000 evictions — a slight increase from fiscal 2021, when the number dropped to historic lows since the agency was created in 2003.
The agency said its workload “increased significantly” in the last financial year due to an increase in migrants fleeing Central and South America to seek refuge in the United States.
For much of the Biden administration, ICE agents were primarily focused on arrest and deport people with criminal records – a stark contrast to the Trump administration, which has empowered the agency to detain anyone not authorized to live in the United States
But over the past fiscal year, those with a criminal record no longer made up the majority of ICE arrests during Biden’s presidency. Instead, immigrants without any criminal record accounted for the majority of arrests — a three-fold increase in size from fiscal 2021. The agency said that was the result of The fact that their agents helped Customs and Border Protection officers process migrants during arrests increased to a record.
Almost half of the 2.3 million encounters at the southern border that resulted in deportations under Title 42 — the public health rule that essentially allows border agents to bypass immigration formalities. often and quickly deport migrants without giving them the opportunity to seek asylum.
Similar to fiscal year 2021, the US reported more than a million deportations last fiscal year – showing Title 42’s strong foothold at the southern border despite efforts by the Biden administration to reduce restrictions.
This policy was introduced by the Trump administration in the early months of the pandemic to prevent the spread of COVID.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on the future of border restrictions due to the pandemic in February.
