ICE arrests climb nearly 40 percent under Trump

President Trump’s executive orders on immigration have led to a surge in ICE immigration arrests and deportations, the agency announced Wednesday.

In a statement on the agency’s website, ICE reports that it has arrested more than 41,000 either known or suspected undocumented immigrants during Trump’s first 100 days, a 37.6 percent increase from the same period last year.

“These statistics reflect President Trump’s commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board,” ICE acting director Thomas Homan said.

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“ICE agents and officers have been given clear direction to focus on threats to public safety and national security, which has resulted in a substantial increase in the arrest of convicted criminal aliens,” the director continued in the statement.

According to the agency, nearly 75 percent of those arrested were “convicted criminals, with offenses ranging from homicide and assault to sexual abuse and drug-related charges.”

“As the data demonstrates, ICE continues to execute our mission professionally and in accordance with the law, and our communities will be much safer for it,” Homan said.

The agency says it is arresting close to 400 suspected undocumented immigrants per day.

In January, Trump signed an executive order that ended the “catch and release” policy that ICE agents followed for undocumented immigrants who are convicted of crimes.

“A nation without borders is not a nation,” Trump said in January. “Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders.”