ICE ERO Immigration Arrests Climb Nearly 40 Percent
There have been more than 41,000 arrests of known or suspected undocumented individuals in the 100 days since President Trump signed immigration-related Executive Orders. Further statistics detail that between January 22 and April 29 of this year, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers administratively arrested 41,318 individuals on civil immigration charges. This a 37.6 percent increase from the same period last year, where ERO only arrested 30,038 individuals between January 24 and April 30 of 2016.
ICE is applauding the increase in its arrests, stating that nearly 75 percent arrests are of convicted criminals who have committed offenses ranging from homicide and assault to sexual abuse and drug-related crimes. A feature on the ICE website provides statistics that state arrests of convicted criminal aliens rose nearly 20 percent from last year, increasing from 25,786 to 30,472. It gives examples of the offenders arrested, citing to the arrest of an MS-13 gang member in New York to an individual charged with child molestation. However, non-criminal arrests are on the rise as well, with Secretary John Kelly clearly stating that no class of individuals will be exempt from removal proceedings if they are found illegally in the United States.
What’s truly worrisome with the eagerness trailing increasing ICE arrests is the missing component of why individuals are entering the U.S. illegally. Many are escaping unsafe conditions or seeking refugee from governments persecuting them for political, social or religious beliefs. The Executive Orders by the Trump Administration overlook this factor and focus on increasing statistics that don’t consider individual’s motives for risking their lives by entering the country illegally.