After a Rough Year, Congress Squeezes ICE
avatar By Bob Dane January 4, 2021 No Comments
Beleaguered by an “unprecedented challenge†from the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained and deported far fewer illegal aliens in 2020. With Congress now applying budget cuts, don’t expect the numbers to improve.
In a year-end report, ICE said the average daily population (ADP) at its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detention facilities dropped to 33,724, down 33 percent from 2019. While some of the decline was due to a decrease in arrivals at the southern border, much was attributed COVID safety protocols and related court-ordered releases. In any event, the declining ADP does not reflect an increase in deportations.
On the bright side, ICE said the number of aliens on its “non-detained docket†remained steady at 3.26 million. But that’s not much of an achievement. A majority of these individuals targeted for deportation had criminal records, yet ICE acknowledged that only a tiny fraction were actually in custody.
https://www.immigrationreform.com/2021/01/04/congress-cuts-ice-budget-immigrationreform-com/
