Arrests of undocumented immigrants have surged more than 32 percent compared to this period last year, according to a new report from the Washington Post. Just as alarmingly, the arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record have doubled from that same period, throwing cold water on Donald Trump’s claim that his unshackled deportation force is prioritizing so-called “bad hombres” for arrest:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 21,362 immigrants, mostly convicted criminals, from January through mid-March, compared to 16,104 during the same period last year, according to statistics requested by The Washington Post.
Arrests of immigrants with no criminal records more than doubled to 5,441, the clearest sign yet that President Trump has ditched his predecessor’s protective stance toward most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Advocates for immigrants say the unbridled enforcement has led to a sharp drop in reports from Latinos of sexual assaults and other crimes in Houston and Los Angeles, and terrified immigrant communities across the United States. A prosecutor said the presence of immigration agents in state and local courthouses, which advocates say has increased under the Trump administration, makes it harder to prosecute crime.
ICE field offices “in New York, Boston and other places are doubling or tripling their numbers from last year. ICE’s Atlanta office arrested the most immigrants who had never committed any crimes, with nearly 700 arrests, up from 137 the prior year. Philadelphia had the biggest percentage increase, with 356 noncriminal arrests, more than six times as many as the year before.” According to one report last month, an immigration official told CNN that the agency was purposefully targeting areas with “sanctuary city” policies.
“My sense is that ICE is emboldened in a way that I have never seen,” said one prosecutor in Washington state.
As ICE spokesperson said that the agency “focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. However, as [DHS Secretary John] Kelly has made clear, ICE will no longer exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.” Kelly himself confirmed during a Meet the Press appearance yesterday that despite the administration’s rhetoric about criminals, just about anyone without papers could be swept up by ICE.
“This Administration is purposefully targeting formerly ‘low priority’ undocumented immigrants who are deeply rooted in American families and American communities,” said immigrant rights leader Frank Sharry.
Four U.S. citizen kids in Ohio know this all too well. Despite the fact that their mom, Maribel Trujillo, has no criminal record and pays her taxes, she was snatched off the street by ICE and faces deportation to Mexico this week. Also in Ohio, an undocumented dad with a special needs son faces deportation after living in the U.S. for nearly 20 years. And last Friday, an immigrant business owner with no criminal record was deported to Mexico after living in Michigan for nearly two decades.
Feeling safer yet, America?
