According to the deportation report for fiscal year 2020 (October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020) from the U.S. federal agency for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), consulted this Monday by Lusa, the 34 percent drop compared to 2019 was influenced by the decrease in Cape Verdean cases.
The number of Cape Verdeans deported, for various reasons, but mostly illegal immigration, dropped from 50 in 2019 (68 in 2018) to 15 last year (-70 percent).
Also according to the ICE's 2020 report, which operates under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Homeland Security, Angola 'overthrew' Cape Verde in leading expulsions among PALOP citizens, with 43 deportations, up from 40 in 2019 and 32 in 2018.
The largest Cape Verdean community outside the archipelago resides in the United States, which is estimated at over 250,000 people, mostly concentrated in the state of Massachusetts.
After four deportees in 2019 - and five in 2018 - no citizen of Guinea-Bissau was expelled from the United States in 2020, as was São Tomé in Príncipe (as in previous years).
Seven citizens were deported to Equatorial Guinea, compared to five in 2019 and 2018, while two citizens were deported to Mozambique, compared to three in the previous year and none in 2018.
The number of Portuguese expelled fell to 47, from 101 in the previous year and 96 in 2018.
Still in Portuguese-speaking countries, Brazil saw the number of deportees increase to 1902, from 1770 in 2019 and 1691 in 2018, while Timor-Leste again did not register any cases of deportation, as in 2019 and 2018.
In total, the United States deported in fiscal year 2020 a total of 185,884 citizens of various nationalities for illegal emigration, pending and transited convictions.
This is a sharp drop compared to the 267,258 deportations recorded in 2019.
The report of that federal agency states that during the covid-19 pandemic "significant steps" were taken to "protect" these foreign citizens with deportation orders, immediately halting any expulsion involving citizens suspected of being infected by the new coronavirus.
