USA:  Over 450,000 Immigrants deported in 2016

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrested over 500,000 individuals across the USA in 2016  according to a report it released Friday. Nearly 60,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended in 2016.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its end of Fiscal Year 2016 statistics, which reflect the U.S. immigration enforcement efforts that prioritize convicted criminals and threats to public safety, border security, and national security.

Though the number of apprehensions increased from the previous year, the report noted that they represent just a fraction of the number of apprehensions observed on average between 1980 and 2008.

“We continued to strengthen the federal government’s decades-long investment in border security,” Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said in a statement. “These investments have paid off. Apprehensions on the border in recent years, a strong indicator of total attempts to cross the border, are much lower than they used to be.”