Nearly 400 non-citizens were removed every day last year, according to the new ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Statistics.
In particular, the number of removals skyrocketed from the previous year, indicating that the Biden administration is tightening immigration policies.
According to ICE’s annual report, a total of 142,580 people were deported in the last fiscal year (October 2022-September 30, 2023), for various types of offenses.
The number of removals continues to rise annually. By fiscal year, the number of removals increased from 2020 to 2021 (59,011) and 2021 to 2022 (72,177). Notably, the number of deportations increased by 97% from the previous year.
The number of removals of Koreans has also significantly increased.
A total of 54 Koreans were deported over the past year, marking a staggering 145% increase from the previous year (22).
Despite the termination of Title 42 in May, ICE has reinstated deportation figures to those seen before the pandemic by utilizing its existing immigration legislation, Title 8, as mentioned in the report. The agency highlighted that there were 170,590 administrative arrests made by ERO, a 19.5% rise from the previous year. Additionally, there were 91,497 at-large arrests, a 7.2% increase compared to the fiscal year 2022.
Enforcement is conducted by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
In Fiscal Year 2023, ERO issued 125,358 detainers for noncitizens with criminal histories, a 59% increase over FY 2022 and a 90.1% increase over FY 2021.
Among the 73,822 individuals with criminal histories, there were 290,178 charges and convictions, averaging four per individual. These included numerous serious charges or convictions, such as 1,713 for homicide; 1,655 for kidnapping; 4,390 sexual assaults; 33,209 assaults; 3,097 robberies; 6,964 burglaries; and 7,520 weapons offenses. Furthermore, the number of at-large arrests conducted by ERO in FY 2023 increased by 7.2% compared to FY 2022. In FY 2023, ERO conducted 91,497 at-large arrests, compared to 85,343 in FY 2022.
Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been intensifying its crackdown on criminal activities.
Following an unprecedented number of investigations, HSI conducted 33,108 criminal arrests and seized over 1.2 million pounds of narcotics, over $949 million in criminally derived currency and assets, and over $148 million in virtual currency.
ICE also deployed more than 1,300 ERO employees to support DHS, the report stated.
Meanwhile, Title 42 is a federal public health law implemented during the Trump administration. During the pandemic, people who crossed the border and applied for asylum could be sent straight back across the border without immigration penalties. Title 8, on the other hand, is a traditional immigration law. Under it, those caught smuggling and removed are barred from entering the country for a certain period as per existing rules.
BY YEOL JANG, JUNHAN PARK [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
