Arrests of Immigrants Living Illegally in U.S. Surged This Year

This year alone, there has been a 42-percent increase in arrests of immigrants living illegally in the United States compared to the same period last year, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Federal agents have made 110,568 arrests between President Trump’s January inauguration and the end of September, though the increase in arrests has left federal immigration courts with a backlog of more than 600,000 cases. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has also seen a 12.5-percent increase in “criminal aliens” over the past year, though the fastest-growing category of arrests has been of immigrants who have not been charged with a crime. Additionally, the Post reported: “During the government’s 2017 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, U.S. border agents made 310,531 arrests, a decline of 24 percent from the previous year and the fewest overall since 1971.”