U.S. immigration authorities deported the largest number of undocumented immigrants in nearly a decade last year, surpassing the record set during Donald Trump’s first term in office.
More than 271,000 immigrants were deported from the United States in the last fiscal year, according to a report released on Thursday (19) by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The ICE report was published just weeks before elected President Donald Trump, who plans to make mass deportations a cornerstone of his administration, takes office. In 2021, President Joe Biden had promised to pause deportations, but his administration ultimately expanded them following an increase in illegal crossings at the border.
In the newly released report, ICE stated that the sharp increase in deportations in the last fiscal year was partly due to a more streamlined process. More deportation flights were sent to more distant destinations, including Africa and Asia, which had not accepted deportations from the U.S. for years, the agency said.
The majority of deportations in fiscal year 2024 involved immigrants apprehended by border officials, compared to those that ICE arrested within the U.S. Approximately 82% of the 271,000 deported immigrants were apprehended by border agents.
The elected president promises to launch the “largest deportation operation in history” when he returns to office on January 20. However, these promises are likely to face enormous logistical and financial challenges.
Before his decisive victory over Biden in November, Trump spent much of his campaign attacking the White House’s border policies. Trump’s transition spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, told Reuters that Biden’s deportations were insignificant compared to the high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency.
“On the first day, President Trump will solve the immigration and national security nightmare that Joe Biden created by launching the largest mass deportation operation of illegal criminals in U.S. history,” she stated.
The number of immigrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high in December 2023 but has since dropped significantly, especially in recent months, and is now at its lowest level since July 2020, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The agency also attributed the increase in deportations to improved diplomatic efforts to convince countries to accept back more deportees.
Mexican authorities have also intensified their crackdown on the flow of immigrants heading toward the U.S. border. In June, President Biden issued an executive order that drastically limited asylum requests, which, along with assistance from Mexico, led to a decrease in illegal crossings at the border.
Since then, the number of individuals released by the U.S. Border Patrol while awaiting immigration court proceedings has dropped by 70%, the agency stated.
Source: BBC