Immigration arrests within the United States have plummeted under President Joe Biden, reaching their lowest point in a decade, according to data obtained by The Washington Post.

Annual immigration arrests inside the U.S. have fallen to the lowest level in more than a decade, data obtained by The Post shows https://t.co/wGjfB4ug94

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 26, 2021

Between 2017 and 2019 – when Donald Trump was President – Immigration and Customs Enforcement averaged 148,000 administrative arrests every fiscal year. But in 2021’s fiscal year, which ended in September, there were only 72,000 administrative arrests.

The Post provides context:

ICE arrests in the interior plunged after President Biden took office and set new limits on immigration enforcement, including a 100-day “pause” on most deportations. A federal judge quickly blocked that order. But while ICE’s arrests have increased in recent months, enforcement levels under Biden’s new priority system remain lower than in previous years.

The Post adds:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued broad new directives to ICE in late September, telling officers the fact that someone is present in the United States illegally “should not alone be the basis” of a decision to detain and deport them. The new directives take effect Nov. 29.

But the agency months ago shifted away from the priorities of the Trump administration, with ICE officials saying officers are focused on arresting more serious criminals.

“Are we going to spend the time apprehending and removing the farmworker who is breaking his or her back to pick fruit that we all put on our tables?” Mayorkas told The Post last month. “Because if we pursue that individual, we will not be spending those same resources on somebody who does, in fact, threaten our safety. And that is what this is about.”

Interior immigration arrests fell to the lowest level in over a decade in FY2021 — roughly half the annual totals recorded during the Trump admin.

This is good progress. And a sign of what happens when law enforcement focuses on public safety threats. https://t.co/3TqXYG2rSI

— National Immigration Forum (@NatImmForum) October 26, 2021

While ICE has slowed down arrests within the United States, detentions at the Southern border have reached an all-time high. 1.7 million migrants were stopped from entering the country via Mexico during fiscal year 2021. About 22,000 migrants are currently detained.