By Kelly Heyboer | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

New Jersey saw one of the nation's biggest surges in arrests by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last year as the federal government cracked down on unauthorized immigrants during President Donald Trump's first year in office.

There were 3,189 arrests in fiscal year 2017 in ICE's Newark region, which encompasses all of New Jersey, according to data released by the agency. That is a 42 percent increase compared to the previous year.

New Jersey's increase was among the highest in the nation, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan demographic research group.

Nationwide, ICE arrests rose about 30 percent to a total of 143,470 arrests during fiscal year 2017, the report said.

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Why are the numbers going up?

ICE rapidly increased its arrests nationwide shortly after Trump's inauguration. In one of his first acts as president, Trump directed ICE to broaden its focus on all immigrants living in the country illegally.

"Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 25 that expanded ICE's enforcement focus to most immigrants in the U.S. without authorization, regardless of whether they have a criminal record," the Pew Report said.

The ICE data is for the fiscal year that ran from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017. But, the increased pace of arrests began in the months after Trump took office in late January 2017, according to the agency's data.

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How did the arrests in New Jersey compare to the rest of the nation?

Here are the 10 regions that saw the largest increase in arrests in fiscal 2017 compared to the previous year, according to the Pew study:

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10) New York City

Region includes: New York City, Long Island and northern suburbs

2017 arrests: 2,576

Percentage increase: 39%

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9) Newark

Region includes: all of New Jersey

2017 arrests: 3,189

Percentage increase: 42%

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8) Washington, D.C.

Region includes: Washington and Virginia

2017 arrests: 4,163

Percentage increase: 44%

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7) Detroit

Region includes: Michigan and Ohio

2017 arrests: 3,409

Percentage increase: 52%

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5) (tie) Boston

Region includes: Most of New England

2017 arrests: 2,834

Percentage increase: 53%

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5) (tie) Atlanta

Region includes: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina

2017 arrests: 13,551

Percentage increase: 53%

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4) New Orleans

Region includes: Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee

2017 arrests: 7,968

Percentage increase: 54%

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3) St. Paul

Region includes: Minneapolis, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska

2017 arrests: 4,175

Percentage increase: 67%

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2) Dallas

Region includes: North Texas, Oklahoma

2017 arrests: 16,520

Percentage increase: 71%

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1) Miami

Region includes: all of Florida

2017 arrests: 6,192

Percentage increase: 76%

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(ICE file photo)

Why did the arrest numbers spike in New Jersey?

The Pew study found the number of arrests rose in every region of the country in 2017. It is unclear why some areas reported dramatic increase in arrests.

Many of the regions along the U.S.-Mexico border -- including South Texas -- saw small increases in the number of arrests. Significantly larger increases were found in Florida, north Texas, Oklahoma and the Midwest, including areas not known for having large numbers of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.

In New Jersey, the arrest numbers went up despite several cities and counties publicly declaring they would limit their cooperation with ICE.

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Who is getting arrested?

In most cases, ICE arrests immigrants who have already been taken into custody by local or state police for criminal offenses. But, the number of immigrants arrested without any prior criminal convictions is on the rise, Pew's research found.

In 2017, only 60 percent of those arrested in New Jersey had prior criminal convictions -- the lowest percentage in all of ICE's regions. Some of those targeted include immigrants who have been living in the U.S. illegally for decades without any problems. In some cases, the immigrants were issued removal orders by the court years earlier, but the order had never been enforced.

In recent weeks, ICE made headlines with arrests of two Indonesian immigrants living in the country illegally who were picked up in Metuchen and Franklin Park after dropping their children off at school.

"We still prioritize the higher level criminals and special cases in terms of public safety," John Tsoukaris, ICE's Newark Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, said in April. "However, one difference right now is that if we encounter others who are here illegally or in violation of the law, we will take them into custody, process them and then make a determination in terms of their custody once they have been processed."

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Is this a new record for ICE arrests?

No, the arrest numbers under Trump are not unprecedented. During Obama's first year in office, ICE made 297,898 arrests -- twice as many as during Trump's first year.

But the arrest numbers declined during Obama's final years in office. Unlike the Trump administration, Obama directed ICE to focus narrowly on the arrests of immigrants who had been convicted of serious crimes.

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More about ICE in N.J.

Can ICE stake out courthouses to arrest unauthorized immigrants?

N.J. immigrations sweep leads to 101 arrests

'Stop deporting Dads' community demands after ICE arrests

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.