WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people arrested by immigration agents in the early months of the Trump administration increased dramatically and is up nearly 40 percent compared to last year.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says agents arrested 41,300 immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally during a 100-day period from Jan. 22 to April 29.
The agency said Wednesday that 30,000 immigrants were arrested in a comparable period in 2016.
The figures show that arrests of immigrants with no criminal convictions more than doubled.
The number of people deported from the U.S. has declined under President Donald Trump.
Most of those arrested had criminal convictions but one in four arrested immigrants did not.
Trump signed his executive orders to boost deportations January 25. It is very early in the the Trump presidency and he continues to get support in Congress for his boarder wall.
For a historical perspective the trend would be for more aggressive deportation over time. As was the case in the former President Barack Obama administration, where deportation hit an all time high.
Former President Obama from 2009 to 2016, oversaw the forcible removal of more than 3 million undocumented immigrants—most of whom were sent back to Mexico. Neither Bill Clinton, nor George W. Bush, Obama’s two predecessors, came close in reaching his tally over their two terms.
Obama’s immigration policies softened with time as Latino activists increasingly put pressure on his administration. In 2013, forcible removals peaked at 434,015 people, a figure unrivaled by Bush or Clinton. By 2016, this had fallen to 344,354 immigrants, slightly lower than Bush’s peak of 359,795 in 2008.