The Trump administration in the fiscal year deported fewer people residing illegally in the U.S. than an average year during former President Barack Obama's eight-year White House tenure.

New federal data released Friday shows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 256,085 people from the country, which ended Sept. 30.

During Obama's first six years in office, ICE deported between 315,000 and 409,000 people per year. In 2015 and 2016, those numbers dropped to approximately 235,000 and 240,000 respectively.



ICE.gov



This year's number was a 13 percent increase from 226,119 in fiscal 2017.

However, the new numbers conflict with Democratic arguments that Trump is deporting people at a faster rate than Obama.

Trump's nominee to head ICE, Ronald Vitiello, told reporters in a briefing call Friday the agency's resources are in high demand due to a surge of illegal entrants at the southern border. Last month, more than 50,000 people were taken into custody for trespassing, including 25,000 families.

After Border Patrol apprehends and processes a trespasser, they are referred to ICE for removal proceedings, at which point the person can claim a credible fear of returning home.

Due to the high number of families coming over the border, ICE's border resources were stretched thin, Vitiello said.

More than half of those removed in 2018 — 57 percent — were previously convicted of criminal offenses. Roughly 5,900 people who were deported were known or suspected gang members. Forty-two of those were affiliated with terrorist groups.

"There is no question that these arrests positively impacted public safety," Vitiello said.

The number of criminal arrests, or those ICE typically picks up in regional enforcement operations, jumped from 5,790 in 2017 to 7,449. NInety-five percent of those arrests resulted in convictions.

Those targeted for deportation fell under seven categories, according to ICE: That includes conviction of any criminal offense and presenting false information to government officials.