Deportation orders rose 27.8 percent in the first six months of Donald Trump’s administration, with a total of 49,983, the Justice Department said Monday.
The number of deportation orders does not amount to the number of deportations made, since federal authorities sometimes must locate undocumented immigrants after the order is issued.
The total of deportation orders issued between February 1 of this year and July 31 was 49,983, compared to 39,113 in the same period last year, the Department said in a brief note.
The number of “voluntary departure” orders – the immigrant agrees to leave the country before a certain date – increased by 30.9%, from 43,595 in that period of 2016 to 57,069 this year.
The figure of “final decisions” – when the process ends at the level of immigration judge – also grew, 14.5%, from 63,850 in that period of 2016 to 73,127 this year.
The Justice Department, in pursuance of an executive order from Trump to tighten immigration policy signed on January 25, has mobilized more than 100 existing immigration judges to detention centers across the country.
Ninety percent of these cases have culminated in deportation orders, the note said.
The Justice Department has also hired 54 more immigration judges since Trump came to the White House and continues to hire new immigration judges every month.
The Department is in the process of reviewing its practices and technology to “identify ways to increase the productivity of judges without compromising due process,” the statement said.
The tough hand with irregular immigration was one of the great campaign promises of Donald Trump, who recently named National Security Secretary John Kelly as his chief of staff for how satisfied he is with the work of the Department.
