DHS Data: Biden’s ‘Sanctuary Country’ Orders Cut Deportations of Criminal Illegal Aliens

President Joe Biden’s so-called “sanctuary country” orders are directly responsible for a massive drop in deportations of illegal aliens, newly released federal data shows.

In February 2021, Biden implemented a series of orders protecting most of the nation’s 11 to 22 million illegal aliens from arrest and deportation. The most expansive is Biden’s so-called “sanctuary country” orders that prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting and deporting most illegal aliens — even those with criminal convictions.

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) obtained ICE data through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, showing Biden’s orders slashed deportations of illegal aliens.

“The ICE records indicate that the drop in enforcement activity in 2021 is directly attributable to the implementation of the Biden enforcement policies,” CIS Director of Policy Jessica Vaughan writes.

The ICE data shows that before Biden’s orders were implemented, from October 1, 2020, to February 2, 2021, agents were deporting about 121 illegal aliens every day from the United States interior including about ten illegal aliens classified as “aggravated felons.”

After Biden’s orders went into effect, from February 18, 2021, to September 30, 2021, deportations from the U.S. interior dropped 46 percent to just 65 deportations a day.

As Breitbart News previously reported, the ICE data shows the Biden administration is deporting fewer criminal illegal aliens convicted and accused of crimes like murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault.

For instance, deportations for illegal alien convicts dropped 62 percent in Fiscal Year 2021, with less than 40,000 being deported from the United States, compared to Fiscal Year 2020, when nearly 104,000 illegal alien convicts were deported.

That data is consistent with overall deportation levels where from February 2021 to September 2021, just 14,585 illegal aliens living in the U.S. interior were been deported. Compare that figure to the last four months of the Trump administration, when nearly 17,000 illegal aliens were deported from the U.S. interior.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is suing the Biden administration over the orders, arguing that the policy unfairly punts the burden of illegal immigration to states.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.