The number of deportations in California has been drastically reduced at a time when the national number of deportations in the U.S. has reached a historical record, according to a recent poll.
According to a report by The Associated Press, quoted by the ABC, the so called Trust Act, which went into effect in California last January, has allowed for a greater number of immigrants detained for misdemeanors to be freed sooner, rather than being detained by immigration authorities.
This is a measure that significantly reduced the amount of deportations in the country, since the people without a serious criminal record are not handed over to federal authorities to be deported, according to the AP.
The poll carried out by the AP on 23 local police departments revealed that not all counties have handed over data on immigrants detained for misdemeanors in the year so far.
Among the 15 departments that did, there was a 44 percent decrease in the number of people delivered to immigration authorities, which meant that deportations were reduced from 2,984 to 1,660, according to the quoted source.
Although for the moment the impact of the Trust Act could have is unknown, analysts estimate that the reduction could be significant.
It's worth noting that California is responsible for almost a third of the deportations from the US thanks to the Secure Communities program of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through which they register the fingerprints of immigrants detained under suspicion of breaking immigration laws.
The new which went into effect earlier this year has the main purpose of reducing the impact the Secure Communities program has had on people detained for misdemeanors and who don't have a criminal record.