In 2022 the number of arrests by the Border Patrol for illegal crossings nearly doubled, but according to reports only half of those caught were deported.
In the 12 months ending Sept. 30, there were 142,750 arrests, however, only 72,177 of those arrested were then removed. While this is a slight increase from the 59,000 deportations in the 2021 fiscal year it is not an increase that matches the increase in illegal crossings.
Both of these numbers are only a small portion of the 185,884 illegal immigrants that have been deported in the 2020 fiscal year during former President Donald Trump’s administration. It is also a much smaller number when compared to the 2019 fiscal year when there were 267,258 deportations or people sent back across the border.
The report was published at a time when ICE deployed 600 special agents to the US-Mexico border and 300 others have been dispatched overseas in order to stop the smuggling operations.
The relocation of federal immigration agents to the frontier has also reduced the resources available for cracking down on international busts and non-border deportations.
ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson told reporters on Friday that “ICE dedicated significant resources to helping secure the southwest border and ensuring the processing of migrants.”
He added that they have detailed thousands of law enforcement officers who are investigating human smuggling and are assisting in the processing of migrants.
