At least 56 Irish people have been arrested by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office so far this year, as Donald Trump embarks on a major immigration crackdown.
Of these, 43 Irish citizens have been deported or are due to be deported.
In general, the figures show ICE has tripled its number of daily arrests since Mr Trump’s inauguration, that the majority of people being arrested have no criminal convictions and that detention centres are being stretched beyond capacity.
As well as the 43 Irish citizens who were deported, the figures show many more are being detained.
We were joined on The Agenda this morning by head of Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, Ciaran Staunton, who says it is a “worrying time” for undocumented Irish immigrants as Trump increases deportations.