Deportations of migrants in US rose by 4.3% this fiscal

Deportations of undocumented immigrants from the US rose by 4.3 per cent in the fiscal year 2019 (between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019) compared to the same period in 2018.

The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported on Wednesday that during this last fiscal year, 267,258 people were deported, compared to 256,085 in 2018, reports Efe news.

The number of immigrants deported in 2019 included 5,700 families, an increase of 110 per cent over the previous fiscal year.

During the fiscal year 2017, when Donald Trump assumed the presidency in January, 226,119 people were deported, a statistic that includes the last months of the Barack Obama administration.

Deportations from the previous administration totaled 389,834 cases in 2009 and increased to 409,849 in 2012, closing with 240,255 deportees in 2016.

The crisis in the border with Mexico reached its highest level last May, when 132,887 detentions were made, the highest number of arrests in just one month since 2006.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency also announced the number of immigrants detained on the border with Mexico, which reached 33,510 cases last November.

Among such cases, 21,189 were adults by themselves, 9,000 were families (defined by the authorities as individuals with a minor, a parent or legal guardian), and 3,321 were unaccompanied minors.

In November, 9,139 immigrants were denied entry across the border.

ICE also reported that although the number of detainees or those not admitted to the country grew by 68 per cent in the last fiscal year, overall arrests by ICE fell by 10 per cent compared to 2018 and only by 12 per cent for convicted criminals.

The detainees included more than 1,900 people convicted and charged with homicide, another 1,800 convicted or accused of kidnapping, some 12,000 linked to sexual crimes, about 45,000 related to assaults, 67,000 convicted or drug offences and about 1,000 for firearms, among others, according to ICE.

With the arrival of massive numbers of immigrants, especially from the countries of the so-called "Northern Triangle" of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras), the average length of the detained population in ICE facilities was 34.3 days.

This average showed a decrease compared to the average of 39.4 days in the fiscal year 2018 and 43.7 days in 2017.

( With inputs from IANS )