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The number of deportations under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last month dropped to a record low, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: His promised 100-day moratorium on deportations was blocked by a federal judge, but the numbers from the Post show Biden's reversal of several ICE directives is having an impact.
By the numbers: In April, ICE deported 2,962 immigrants, per preliminary data obtained by the Post.
- That's a 20% decline from March, when ICE deported 3,716 people.
- Before April, monthly figures on record had never dropped below 3,000.
- ICE reported about 37,000 deportations in the last seven months, which sets the agency on a path to fewer than 33,000 deportations for the 2021 fiscal year, per the Post.
The big picture: Deportations averaged around 240,000 in former President Trump's first three years in office, lower than numbers under the Obama administration.
- But Trump's family separation policy drew protests across the nation.
- Biden reinstated protections for Dreamers upon taking office. But U.S.-Mexico border crossings have surged in recent months, with deadly results in some cases.
- Approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has concentrated its limited law enforcement resources on threats to national security, border security, and public safety," an ICE spokesperson told Axios.
- "This has allowed ICE to focus on the quality of enforcement actions and how they further the security and safety of our communities rather than the simple quantity of arrests and removals."