US: Weekly arrest of 680 undocumented immigrants is not so unusual

Last week, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested more than 680 people in at least 12 states, shown below, stoking fears that the Trump administration is increasing the arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants.

But a comparison of last week’s arrests and similar ones during the first four years of the Obama presidency show that the recent level of enforcement activity is not unprecedented.

It is unclear, however, if the numbers are an actual increase in enforcement because information on operations in only 12 states was disclosed.

In President Obama’s first year, officials arrested an average of 675 immigrants a week in so-called “community arrests.”

During the 2009 financial year, immigration officials made 35,094 arrests — an average of 675 each week — at individuals’ homes, workplaces or elsewhere in the community, which is similar to the number of arrests made last week.

These types of arrests are sometimes called “community arrests.” Operations on this scale do not occur every week and may take several weeks to plan.

The weekly average of such arrests made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement fugitive teams under President Obama rose to 771 in 2011 and declined slightly to 719 the next year.

Data after 2012 are not readily available, but in more recent years, the number of ICE apprehensions and removals decreased overall, especially after the Obama administration began to focus on convicted criminals.

In Mr Obama’s two terms in office, there were at least six known operations in which more than 500 people were arrested, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Announced	Number arrested
April 2010	596
June 2011

More than 2,400

September 2011

2,901

April 2012

3,168

August 2013

1,660 March 2015 2,059

In one of the largest operations, the Obama administration announced in 2015 that immigration officials had arrested more than 2,000 individuals in a five-day nationwide effort that targeted unauthorised immigrants convicted of crimes. Several other large nationwide operations resulted in more than a thousand arrests.

While the numbers may not be unusual, Mr Trump has opened the door to removing more unauthorised immigrants.

What’s different about last week’s arrests is the context, said Randy Capps, Director of Research for United States Programs at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group.

In 2014, the Obama administration began targeting unauthorised immigrants in three primary categories: those convicted of serious crimes, those considered national security threats and recent arrivals.

But immigrants who committed minor offences — or none at all — were often swept up in operations. Still, by the end of Mr Obama’s presidency, not counting migrants turned back at the border, about 90 per cent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement removals from inside the United States were of convicted criminals.

President Trump’s executive order uses a broader definition of “serious crimes” and includes anyone who has crossed the border illegally — a misdemeanour.

The Obama administration was careful to say that only people who had very serious charges or were recent arrivals were priorities for enforcement, but now, everyone is a priority, Mr Capps said.

Most of those arrested last week had criminal convictions.

Immigration officials reported that about 75 per cent of the 680 people arrested during last week’s operations had criminal convictions.

Of the 161 arrested in the Los Angeles area, 94 per cent had been convicted of the following crimes:

Most serious conviction	Total
Domestic violence	42
Drug offenses	26
Assault	23
Sex crimes	17
D.U.I.	17
Burglary	6
Weapons violations

5

Vehicle theft

4

Other

11

Of the 235 arrested in six Midwestern states, 163 had criminal convictions, 60 illegally re-entered the United States after being removed, and the remaining 12 were picked up because they had outstanding orders of removal issued by a federal immigration judge.

Not all of the 680 will be removed immediately from the United States.

Some of those arrested in last week’s operation have “final orders” to be deported and will probably be removed quickly from the country. Immigration officials can also quickly deport those individuals who re-entered the United States illegally by reinstating their previous removal order.

For others, however, immigration officials will begin a removal process, which includes scheduling a hearing before an immigration judge. In this case, individuals can get a lawyer as well as appeal the ruling, which further delays the process.

Some of the individuals arrested may face criminal charges in the federal court and possibly serve time in federal prison before being deported.

© 2017 The New York Times News Service