Arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents dropped significantly in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, but a larger proportion of those arrested were unauthorized immigrants with no criminal record.
Between October and December, ICE agents arrested 34,546 people, 12 percent fewer than the 39,328 arrests in the same period of fiscal 2018.
But 36 percent of those arrested during the first quarter of fiscal 2019, or 12,271, were made up of those who are not convicted criminals, compared to 33 percent, or 13,010, in the same period of fiscal 2018.
The overall reduction in arrests is due to the reassignment of resources to border enforcement, according to Nathalie Asher, the acting executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, the branch of ICE in charge of detaining and deporting people who’ve violated immigration law.
“I have a finite number of officers, we’re just over 6,000 strong as it related to deportation officers, and the bandwidth is getting stretched,” Asher told reporters on a call Thursday.
Asher added that ICE is shifting resources to other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, like Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to cope with increased immigrant apprehensions at the southern border.
“We are having to work lockstep with CBP, redirecting countless numbers of deportation officers to address what’s occurring at the border at this time,” said Asher….
Note….
I’m sure it’s NO coincidence that the media is being informed by various immigration enforcement agencies and departments that they are overwhelmed ….
Wouldn’t THAT play to Donald Trump’s trying to sell the concept that there is a ‘national emergency crisis ‘ at the US/Mexican border….
Even with all this?
There where TWICE as many border dentitions during the Bush and Obama years…..