Washington D.C. (December 9, 2022) – A new report by the Center for Immigration Studies finds a steep decline in the deportation of criminals due to the Biden administration's immigration enforcement priorities.

The report, based on detailed records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveals a 71 percent decline in removals of deportable aliens who came to ICE’s attention due to a local criminal arrest in the first three quarters of 2021 compared to 2019. The report examines trends in the removal of aliens who were identified by ICE under the Secure Communities program and shows ICE removal by state and the top 50 counties for ICE removals. These are removal cases that originate because the alien has been arrested for a crime by local law enforcement, as opposed to border or worksite cases.

Jessica Vaughan, the Center’s director of policy studies and author of the report, said, “These statistics illustrate just how much of a problem the Biden policies are for local communities. When ICE is told to take a pass on removing deportable aliens who are identified because they were arrested for a local crime, that means most of these offenders go right back onto the streets, free to continue committing crimes – crimes that could be prevented if ICE were allowed to do its job.”

“If I were a local official,” continued Vaughan, “I would be keeping track and trying to hold someone accountable for this. If I were a member of Congress, I would be looking for a way to compel ICE to restore this enforcement activity on behalf of public safety.”

Key findings:

• Under Biden enforcement priorities, there was a 71 percent decline in removals of deportable aliens who came to ICE’s attention due to a local criminal arrest.
• Ten states experienced an extreme decline in enforcement of greater than 80 percent under Biden policies (Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont).
• Of the 50 U.S. counties that typically have the most criminal alien removals, 14 experienced extreme declines (greater than 80 percent) under Biden policies. About one-third of these high-volume counties are in Texas.
• The high-volume counties with the steepest decline in removals of locally arrested criminals were Gwinnett County, Ga.; Plymouth County, Mass.; Bergen County, N.J.; and Kankakee County, Ill. Criminal removals dropped by more than 90 percent in these jurisdictions.
• There were 50 counties, parishes, or territories with a minimal baseline volume of enforcement where the number of criminal removals dropped by 90 percent or more. Eight of these were in Georgia.
• In one representative county, Howard County, Texas, under Biden policies just half the number of criminals convicted of homicides were removed than before, and there also were steep drops in removals of criminals convicted of assault, burglary, drugs, larceny, and sex offenses.