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Tracking U.S. deportation numbers — Which graph do we believe?

The country waits with baited breath to see if the Homeland Security Department’s funding bill will pass the House today. The bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 68 to 31, removed restrictions on Obama’s executive action on immigration included in a bill passed by the House. President Obama’s stance on immigration has created a deep rift between Republicans and Democrats and the American public.

This rift has led to arguments over the number of illegal aliens in this country that have actually been deported. Proponents are pointing to the statistics showing deportations under the Obama administration having far exceeded any other president’s numbers. And according to a story in Reuters Feb. 25, it would seem the data is there to back proponents up, if you want to believe Mike Corones, because, after all, it is only his opinion.

The Reuters graph uses information from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). While 414,481 people were deported in fiscal year 2014, the numbers were down from 438,421 the year before, but each year, says Corones, the Obama administration has seen more deportations than any preceding president.

The report in Reuters shows the total number of  deportations  per year.

The report in Reuters shows the total number of “deportations’ per year.
Department of Homeland Security


And here is the problem that everyone is trying to sort out: If the Obama administration is deporting more illegals than any other president to date, how come the number of deportations has fallen? Remember the “detention bed” quota that specified that 34,000 beds in detention centers around the country had to be filled “every night?” Under Obama’s new executive orders on immigration, the ICE is spending more money and time trying to catch each illegal immigrant, resulting in fewer detainees, according to the Washington Times.

The new Obama executive decision has resulted in thousands of beds in detention centers remaining empty. Plus, the problem is more concerning because many of those illegal immigrants have gone on to commit major crimes, including murder. “How many Americans killed by illegal aliens are too many?” said Jamiel Shaw, who told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that his son was killed by a “so-called ‘Dreamer immigrant,'” brought here illegally as a child. “Dream Act kids have turned my family’s American dream into a nightmare.”

The Center for Immigration Studies published this graph from the DHS in 2013. Note that removals and...

The Center for Immigration Studies published this graph from the DHS in 2013. Note that removals and returns were used, rather than deportations.
DHS


There are a couple of issues that are disconcerting. One issue is the continuing use of the word “deportation” used by the media, says Anna O. Law, the Herbert Kurz Associate Professor of Constitutional Law and Civil Liberties at CUNY Brooklyn College. She says the word has been excluded in Immigration Law since 1996. She explained it this way:
” Prior to 1996, immigration law distinguished between immigrants who were “excluded,” or stopped and prevented from entering U.S. territory, and those who were “deported,” or expelled from the United States after they had made their way into U.S. territory. After 1996, both exclusion and deportation were rolled into one procedure called “removal.” At that point, the term “deportation” no longer had any meaning within the official immigration statistics.”

Law says different presidents have emphasized different statistics and different categories of illegals when reporting statistics to the American public. For example, the Bush administration used removals and returns together while the Obama administration uses only its total number of removals. Law cites the recent article showing “deportation” numbers. For example, one database is showing only return numbers while the other is showing Obama’s return and removal numbers, which does put the numbers over the 2.0 million mark.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte is blaming the Obama administration for the number of illegal immigrants being allowed to roam the streets and commit crimes. He contends that, “As a result of these foolish policies, the number of unlawful or criminal aliens that ICE has removed from the interior of the country has fallen by more than half since 2008.” Is he right, or better still, which statistics should we believe?

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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