The Biden administration has done its work well in terms of fostering and worsening the crisis at the border, an issue well in hand during the Trump presidency. Biden’s policies were an about-face from Trump’s, shutting down the construction of the border wall and effectively tying the hands of ICE.

Now, we’re seeing official arrest numbers for ICE being released and they’re troubling but revealing.

According to Fox News, arrests have decreased by around 50 percent since 2019, continuing a steady decline into 2021:

FY 2021 ICE data has not yet been finalized, but it is on track to show around 70,000 administrative arrests by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) when it is eventually released, Fox News has learned.

That is down from 103,603 arrests in FY 2020, which in turn was down from 143,099 in FY 2019 and 158,581 in FY 2018. The FY 2021 data was first reported by The Washington Post, which reported that the data is the lowest level in more than a decade.

While FY 2021 includes the final months of the Trump administration, it also included with the beginning of the Biden administration — which issued guidance for ICE agents in February that dramatically reduced the scope of enforcement priorities.

The guidance, issued again in a broader memo in September, which goes into effect in November, restricts ICE agents to arresting three categories of illegal immigrants – recent border crossers, national security threats and aggravated felons. Arrests outside those categories required approval from a superior.

While arrests did decline under Trump, so did attempts to migrate illegally. Trump’s tough stance on illegal immigration and focus on border enforcement policies, as well as operations in the interior of the country, oversaw a 67 percent drop in illegal immigration in April of his first year. Assaults on border patrol guards were also down. While this does correspond with migration patterns, the border issue managed to stay well under control.

In fact, as pointed out by National Review, out-migration amongst non-naturalized citizens doubled in the first half of Trump’s presidency. Illegal immigrants were leaving America and heading home, with green card holders, foreign students, and guest workers leaving of their own accord instead of joining the illegal immigrant population.

However, under Biden, illegal immigration skyrocketed to unmanageable levels. Not only were border patrol agents having a hard time keeping up, but the Biden administration was also openly punishing them at every turn for doing their jobs.

In fact, illegal migrants were openly admitting that they were attempting to cross because Trump was no longer president and Biden was far weaker on enforcement.

"I didn't even want to try" says Colombian migrants that crossed illegally into Yuma, Arizona when I asked if they attempted to come under the Trump administration. I also interviewed Nicaraguan migrants that crossed illegally into Yuma that shared the similar sentiment pic.twitter.com/WMaCI0n2SG

— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) October 12, 2021

Now, once they get into the country, ICE is weighed so far down with red tape that the amount of arrests has crashed and will likely continue to crash as time goes on, especially as elected Democrat officials continue to show disdain for ICE and actively look to defund them.