by Bethany Blankley
The greatest number of illegal foreign nationals on the docket for deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Non-Detention Docket (NDD) was reported under the Biden administration.
The greatest number was 6.2 million in fiscal 2023, followed by 4.7 million in fiscal 2022 and 3.6 million in fiscal 2021, according to an ICE 2023 annual report.
ICE’s NDD includes illegal foreign nationals who were given final orders of removal from federal immigration judges. A final order of removal means the appeal process is over and all previous appeals were rejected.
In fiscal 2023, “the non-detained docket climbed by 30.3% from 4.7 million noncitizens in fiscal 2022 to more than 6.2 million noncitizens in fiscal 2023,” ICE states in the report. “Comparatively, the non-detained was at 3.26 million in FY 2020 and 3.6 million in FY 2021. CBP apprehensions of noncitizens at the Southwest Border and the transfer of those cases to ERO for processing are the main drivers of this increase.”
In fiscal 2023 alone ICE reported the greatest NDD totals from these countries:
- Honduras: 878,653
- Guatemala: 877,020
- Mexico: 774,974
- El Salvador: 554,586
- Venezuela: 465,476
- Cuba: 442,624
- Nicaragua: 323,518
- Colombia: 271,483
- Haiti: 208,565
- Ecuador: 201,869
In fiscal 2024, the NDD total was more than 1.4 million, according to data obtained by Fox News.
The greatest NDD totals were from four countries, far less compared to the previous year: Honduras: 261,651; Guatemala: 253,413; Mexico: 252,044; El Salvador: 203,822.
The next greatest totals in fiscal 2024 are citizens of Nicaragua: 45,995; China: 37,908; Haiti: 32,363; Ecuador: 31,252; and Venezuela: 22,749.
They are among the more than 3 million citizens from four countries given expanded entry for inadmissiables from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.
Other large numbers include illegal foreign nationals to be deported to Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan – countries of foreign concern and countries that are state sponsors of terrorism or that have ties to terrorism.
Those on these lists will be among the first to be deported under the Trump administration, the new border czar, Tom Homan, told The Center Square. The removal process will prioritize individuals based on their threat to society, he said.
“The priorities will focus on public safety threats, national security threats and fugitives,” those who “got due process at great taxpayer expense and the federal judge ordered them removed, but they didn’t leave, and they became a fugitive.”
Individuals who are on the federal Terrorist Watch List and “Special Interest Aliens,” those from countries of foreign concern, are all priorities, he said. “We’ll work very closely with the FBI and intelligence community” to identify and find them, he said. “We know a record number of people on the terrorist watchlist have crossed the border,” he said.
Homan has long warned that the border crisis created the greatest national security threat since 9/11.
Also on the deportation prioritization list are more than 662,000 with criminal records identified by ICE to be deported that haven’t been, The Center Square reported. The most violent include those convicted of, or charged with, homicide (14,914), sexual assault (20,061), assault (105,146), kidnapping (3,372), and commercialized sexual offenses, including sex trafficking (3,971).
Also on the deportation prioritization list are nearly 180,000 illegal foreign nationals ICE has documented who under federal law are inadmissible and required to be removed but weren’t because of a Biden administration “Alternatives to Detention” program enabling them to live freely in the U.S.
The ICE NDD total increased as the greatest number of illegal border crossers were reported under the Biden administration of more than 14 million, The Center Square reported.
Authorities believe the number is significantly higher because not all illegal foreign nationals released into the US through multiple parole programs or flown into the country were publicly reported. Federal judges in multiple lawsuits brought by states ruled these programs were illegal.
– – –
Bethany Blankley is a contributor to The Center Square.
