DHS Finds One Thing Obama Did Better Than Trump, But Liberals Hate It

By
Lawrence Richard
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The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported more immigrants in 2019 than they did during any other year of President Trump’s tenure.

Mainstream media and congressional Democrats are quick to point out that his deportation numbers are high, but the 280,000 deportations this year are nothing compared to the number of immigrants former President Obama deported.

According to new internal Department of Homeland security figures, reported by Axios, Trump’s highest figure is still lower than six of eight of Obama’s years in office.

Here’s more, from Axios:

Why it matters: With four months left in the fiscal year, it puts Trump’s deportations in perspective and shows the reality behind the anti-immigrant pledges that have come to define his presidency.

By the numbers: Under the Obama administration, total ICE deportations were above 385,000 each year in fiscal years 2009-2011, and hit a high of 409,849 in fiscal 2012. The numbers dropped to below 250,000 in fiscal years 2015 and 2016.

  • Under Trump, ICE deportations fell to 226,119 in fiscal 2017, then ticked up to over 250,000 in fiscal 2018 and hit a Trump administration high of 282,242 this fiscal year (as of June).

State of play: Trump kicked off his 2020 campaign with a familiar pledge to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., and announced that ICE will begin a series of raids across the country next week.

  • Yes, but: Such a pledge is ambitious given the current pressures on the agency and its limited resources. As the AP points out, ICE is “already overwhelmed, lacking staff, funding and detention space for its current work. And any massive roundup that includes deportation of families would be sure to spark outrage.”

The Daily Caller similarly reports that the rising number of deportations is expected to continue for President Trump.

Check it out:

While Obama launched major initiatives aimed at protecting illegal immigrants, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, he was also criticized by immigration-rights advocates for the number of deportations that took place during his tenure. Many of them branded him the “deporter-in-chief.”

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Trump, on the other hand, has occupied the Oval Office during the worst crisis seen in “modern history,” according to the ICE Acting Director Mark Morgan. The situation has forced immigration agencies to divert resources to the U.S.-Mexico border, leaving ICE with less manpower in the interior of the country.

However, deportations could begin to rise dramatically. Trump announced on Monday that ICE would begin apprehending “millions” of foreign national living illegally in the country.

“At this point right now … we have really no other choice but to use our enforcement statutory authority to identify where these individuals are and remove them. President Trump’s executive order has made it clear: No class of individual is exempt from our federal immigration statutes,” Morgan said to reporters on Tuesday.

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