Immigration arrests up in ICE zone covering Nevada, ID. MT. UT.

Immigration arrests up in ICE zone covering Nevada

Associated Press
Monday, Dec. 17, 2018 | 7:43 a.m.

SALT LAKE CITY — Arrests of people suspected of living in the U.S. illegally have increased 24 percent in a four-state region since President Donald Trump entered office, mirroring a national trend.

Numbers released last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show increasing arrests and deportations by the agency's Salt Lake City field office, which covers Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reported .

The Enforcement and Removal Operations office arrested 5,754 people during the 2018 fiscal year, up from the 4,638 arrests in 2016, according to the agency's report. It deported 3,408 people, nearly double the 1,731 recorded in 2016 before Trump took office.

"Consistent with President Trump's executive orders issued in early 2017," the agency said in the report, it "has continued to use resources as effectively and efficiently as possible to enforce the nation's immigration laws."

ICE arrested 158,851 people across the country this year, a 44-percent increase from the 110,104 arrests in 2016. The agency deported 256,085 immigrants, increasing by 6.5 percent in 2016.

Of the national number, 10 percent of the people arrested this year had no criminal history while 66 percent had criminal convictions, 21 percent had pending criminal charges and 3 percent had previous final deportation orders.

Of the people arrested by the Salt Lake City office, the numbers show that 6.2 percent had no criminal history while 78.3 percent had criminal convictions, and 15.5 percent had "pending charges."

The pending charges category can include those who have been arrested by police but are not yet charged.

While ICE "makes every effort to arrest aliens who threaten public safety, no criminal action or conviction is required for ERO to act on an individual case," the report states. No one is exempt from immigration enforcement, the agency said.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2018/de...vering-nevada/