US authorities arrest nearly 150,000 illegal immigrants in 2017

NEW YORK -- Authorities have made nearly 150,000 arrests of illegal immigrants in the United States this year, according to a latest report.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in its annual report that it has made 143,470 administrative arrests in fiscal year 2017, increasing 30 percent year-on-year.

An administrative arrest is the arrest of an alien for a civil violation of the immigration laws, which is subsequently adjudicated by an immigration judge or through other administrative processes.

Of the total arrests, 110,568 occurred after Jan 20, which is a 42 percent increase over the same time period last year, according to the report.

US President Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan 20 this year. On Jan 25, Trump issued an executive order to set forth the Administration's immigration enforcement and removal priorities.

Trump's controversial policies to put a travel ban on citizens of some Muslim-majority nations, scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program shielding immigrants who came to the country illegally as children from deportation, and withdraw from the global migration compact, a United Nation-led process toward safe, orderly and regular migration, have ignited protests across the country.

While supporters cheered tough immigration policy, citing national security concerns, others slammed it as discriminatory.