As the saying goes, “the important thing is in details.” We have been listening to record figures for people arrested for immigration in the new administration of Donald Trump, but how many of these arrested people are being deported?
What is the difference between the two?
We could assume that people arrested or detained by immigration would eventually be deported. The new figures published between February and June show that it is important to distinguish between an arrest and a deportation, since an arrest does not always lead to deportation.
According to the United States immigration data, of the almost 30,000 immigrants arrested during the month of June only 18,000 were deported. In May, 24,000 people were arrested, 15,000 deported. Both figures show that only half of the arrested people are being deported. Obama deported 36,000 immigrants in a single month in 2013.
The disparity between the number of arrests and the number of deportations
The big difference between the number of arrests and the number of deportations is due to the fact that people who do not meet the requirements to be deported are arrested. For example, people who are in the process of deportation and have requested a legal resource, or US citizens. The new figures reveal that the majority of detained immigrants do not have a criminal record, to the opposite of what this government has declared.
Another shocking detail: the number of illegal border crossings has decreased to historical minimums. A great victory for the administration of President Trump, since the measures that the Government is implementing to combat immigration are deterring people to emigrate to the United States. Those who cross the border illegally and are arrested by the United States immigration service usually face an accelerated deportation. Less people crossing the border illegally translates into less deportations on the border between the United States and Mexico.
Increased detention centers
The Trump administration won another victory with the approval of the Big Beautiful Bill. This Budget bill allocates almost 150,000 million dollars to the application of immigration laws, which will cause the US immigration service to be more powerful than many armies in the world.
In Florida, the new and notorious detention center Alligator Alcatraz It has been operating for a month and has capacity for 1,000 immigrants. Immigrants have denounced the cruel conditions in the center, such as food shortage, lack of hygiene and that detainees spend days with artificial light, without knowing either the day or time.
President Sheinbaum has requested the immediate deportation of all Mexican citizens held in this detention center. Recently, two Mexican brothers were arrested for a transit infraction, sent to Aligator Alcatraz and subsequently deported. One of them was visiting a valid tourist visa and a ticket back to Mexico, while the other is married to an American citizen and was in the process of regularizing its immigration status. This is just an example of the numerous questionable arrests that occur in the United States.
Over time we will have more data on the progress of the promises of this administration. One thing is safe: the increase of 150,000 million dollars will provide the tools to double the number of deportees to immigration service.
About the author:
*Jasmin Singh is an immigration lawyer specialized in American immigration law based in New York City.
LinkedIn: Jasmin Singh
The opinions expressed are only the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and the editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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