President Donald Trump has deported undocumented immigrants at a significantly lower rate than former President Obama’s administration, according to ICE statistics.
According to ICE, the agency has deported more than 256,000 people so far in 2018. In 2017, ICE deported more than 226,000 people.
Those numbers are considerably lower than ICE statistics during the Obama administration. According to ICE, the agency deported well more than 300,000 people per year every year from 2008 to 2014, including more than 409,000 people when deportations peaked in 2012.
Deportations fell in Obama’s last two years in office, falling to less than 250,000 per year, but were still higher than Trump’s first year in office.
Obama was dubbed ‘deporter in chief’:
In 2016, ABC News reported that Obama had deported “more people than any other president's administration in history.” More than 3 million people were deported under Obama, leading rights groups to label him the “deporter in chief.”
“The Obama administration regularly defended its high level of deportations, arguing that the majority were convicted criminals,” Newsweek reported. “However, that was not entirely accurate according to annual reports released by ICE. The level of non-criminal immigration violators deported remained above 40 percent during Obama’s entire time in office. In Obama’s first two years, the level was 69 percent and 65 percent respectively.”
Trump policies proving ineffective:
According to Politico, Trump’s policies have done little to curb illegal immigration. The number of detentions at the US border increased 78 percent in November compared to last year. That’s right around the peak levels seen under the Obama administration, suggesting little difference in effect despite Trump’s bluster.
Trump curbs worker visas -- during labor shortage:
“However, there is one aspect of immigration where Trump has actually made a dent. The numbers entering the U.S. legally on immigration, temporary stay or work visas has dropped since Obama’s final year in office,” Newsweek reported. “Temporary stay visa issuances have declined by 13 percent from 2016, and the issuance of immigration visas, which allow individuals to apply for green cards, has fallen by 14 percent over the same period of time.”
“At the same time, the U.S. is actually facing a labor shortage to fill blue collar jobs, Bloomberg reported. With a low unemployment rate and an increasing number of young people graduating from universities in search of specialized positions, experts have warned that that the shortage is ‘acute’ and ‘very, very pronounced.’”
