Workplace raids. The separation of families at the border. The end of temporary protected status. The Trump administration has made vast changes to immigration policy since 2017, dramatically altering the landscape of enforcement priorities both on the border and in the nation’s interior.
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The changes have touched people of all ages, some just arriving in the United States, others who have lived here for most of their lives. Here are key numbers that illustrate what’s at stake under President Donald Trump’s immigration policies for hundreds of thousands of people:
50,000
People traveling in families arrested at the southern border since October. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced a “zero tolerance” policy in April. The policy requires that first-time crossers who try to enter the country without authorization be prosecuted and children separated from their families at the border. Source: The New York Times
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (right) tours the U.S.-Mexico border with border officials in April. Credit: Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
61 percent
Percentage of asylum cases denied in 2017. Nearly 9 out of 10 Mexican nationals who claim they’re fleeing persecution are denied asylum. Those from Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala don’t fare much better. Source: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
155,000
Immigrants arrested last year by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thirty percent of those arrested had no criminal record. During the last year of the Obama administration, 110,000 immigrants were arrested, and 16 percent had no history of arrest. During the final presidential debate in 2016, Trump promised to clean up the border by targeting drug dealers and ridding the nation of what he called “bad hombres.” Source: CNN
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., has a capacity of 1,924 detainees and is operated by the private corrections company CoreCivic. Credit: Kate Brumback/Associated Press
3,410
Workplace inspection raids by ICE to arrest workers without authorization to be in the U.S. between October and May. This figure is double the 1,716 operations conducted in fiscal year 2016. Source: Independent
14,000
ICE detainers issued per month over the last nine months, according to ICE data released through November. Immediately following Trump’s election, there was a large spike in detainer numbers. However, data indicates that the numbers have stabilized since March 2017. Sometimes called holds, detainers are voluntary requests for local jurisdictions to detain someone on behalf of federal immigration agents. It’s unknown how many ICE detainers requested are honored. Source: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
428,250
Number of people who will have to leave the U.S. within the next two years with the end of temporary protected status for people from six countries. The Department of Homeland Security decided to end provisional residency for 262,500 Salvadorans, 86,000 Hondurans, 58,600 Haitians, 14,800 Nepalis, 5,300 Nicaraguans and 1,050 Sudanese. Source: CNN
119,100
Immigrant workers from El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti lost with the end of their temporary protected status. This will affect a number of leading U.S. industries, including construction, restaurants and other food services, landscaping services, child day care services, and grocery stores. Source: Journal on Migration and Human Security
15,000
Additional H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available in 2018. In announcing the increase, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen suggested that there are not enough workers in the U.S. to keep up with the needs of U.S. businesses. Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
218
Lawmaker signatures needed for a petition to bypass Republican leadership and permit the House to decide the fate of over 800,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. As of Tuesday, only three more signatures were needed. Source: Politico
Reporter Aura Bogado contributed to this story.
Vanessa Swales can be reached at vswales@revealnews.org.