Shannon Dooling, WBUR, May 31, 2017

Under President Trump, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are casting a broader net when it comes to who they’re prioritizing for arrest. According to ICE data, the focus in New England appears to be more on immigrants with no criminal record.

ICE arrests of non-criminal immigrants living in New England without authorization have more than tripled so far this year.

Even before then-President-elect Trump took office, his message on immigration was clear — he planned to deport millions of immigrants living in the country without documentation.

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Nationwide, the number has more than doubled compared to the same time last year.

In the “Boston Area of Responsibility” — which includes all of New England — ICE has arrested more than three times as many non-criminals as of the end of April, 335, up from 104 last year.

“This administration is carrying out the mass deportation agenda that it promised on the campaign trail,” says Sarah Sherman-Stokes, a clinical instructor at Boston University’s Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program.

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The Trump administration has said it hopes to beef up the number of ICE agents in an effort to support the new enforcement priorities.