ICE deportations drop significantly in past year, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement report says

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Overall immigration arrests dropped dramatically in 2021 by nearly 40 percent, according to the annual report by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

However, the number that ICE arrested for aggravated felonies nearly doubled, at over 74,000.

The Biden administration shifted its immigration enforcement to focus on people in the country without legal status, who have committed serious crimes.

Also total deportations fell to the lowest in the agency's history, down nearly 70 percent to just over 59,000.

That number is partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic public health order, to expel people without formal deportation proceedings.