Deportations have plunged by up to 100 percent in U.S. counties under President Joe Biden, according to newly released data.
Deportations, or the removal of illegal immigrants, have dropped by as much as 95 percent in U.S. states, the data show. And in counties across the country, far fewer illegal aliens are being kicked out of the country.
The Center for Immigration Studies, which obtained and released the data, pointed to Howard County, Texas, as an example.
In the county, which has about 35,000 residents, 655 illegal aliens were removed from January through September 2019, when President Donald Trump was in office.
In the same months in 2021, after Biden took office, U.S. officials only removed 189 aliens from the county.
The data are for illegal immigrants arrested by local authorities, leading to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) becoming aware of them. The total drop for the group was a 70 percent decrease to 16,351.
“The public safety consequences of the Biden interior enforcement policies that are being experienced in Howard County, Texas, undoubtedly are happening in hundreds of other U.S. jurisdictions,” Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the center, wrote in a blog post detailing the data.
“State and local authorities should keep track of cases of criminal aliens who are not removed by ICE and bring these cases to the attention of ICE leadership, members of Congress, and the public. In addition, through appropriations or otherwise, the new Congress should clarify its expectations with respect to immigration enforcement in the interior, particularly involving criminal aliens, certain of whom are subject to mandatory arrest and detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act,” she added.
ICE and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, did not respond to requests for comment.
