‘Sanctuary Country’: ICE Deportations, Arrests See Dramatic Drop Under Biden

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released its fiscal year 2021 statistics Friday, showing significant decreases in deportations and arrests since President Joe Biden took office.

In total for fiscal year 2021, ICE‘s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deported 59,011 noncitizens, compared to 185,884 noncitizens deported in fiscal year 2020. ERO also arrested 74,082 noncitizens during fiscal year 2021, compared to 103,603 arrests in fiscal year 2020, which was a 28% decrease from the previous fiscal year.

Border crossings, however, have skyrocketed since Biden was elected, with figures reaching a 60-year high in the year after Biden’s electoral victory.

The Biden administration implemented new priorities for ICE that limited enforcement to the greatest threats to national security, public safety and border security.

Former ICE Director Tom Homan told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he would argue these numbers show “the Biden administration is even failing to live up to the extremely low level enforcement bar it has set for itself.”

Homan pointed out that fiscal year 2020 was marked by “severely restricted” operations because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said that the arrests made during fiscal year 2021 are essentially ineffectual.

“And it’s way down from the totals from 2019 (roughly 143,000) and 2018 (roughly 159,000). It’s also important to keep in mind that this 74,000 figure is a bit misleading. Administrative arrests are largely toothless if they don’t ultimately result in removals,” Homan said.

“The removal numbers should also be considered in light of the number of CBP reported ‘got aways,’ who still fall under ICE’s extremely narrow enforcement priorities, and the fact that a significant portion of these removals likely occurred during the previous administration,” he added.

Former Acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan echoed Homan’s frustration’s with ICE’s new priorities set forth under the Biden administration.

“So at a time when we have the highest levels of illegal immigration in our lifetime and our border is out of control – this administration has enacted policies resulting in the lowest number of ICE detainees in more than 20 years; lowest levels of deportations in the history of ICE; and a significant decrease of arrests of illegal aliens,” Morgan told the DCNF.

“This administration has created a sanctuary country and sent a message to the entire world that if you illegally enter our sovereign borders we’ll release and prevent you from being lawfully deported. This is what the real root cases look like,” he said.