Trump had fewer deportations than Obama's first year
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Despite President Trump's tough-on-immigration rhetoric, there were around 177,000 fewer deportations this year than in 2009, Obama's first year in office. That number is lower than any year during Obama's presidency, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data.
One big thing: The numbers didn't really start to decline for Obama until after he signed DACA in 2012. It protects illegal immigrants from deportation if they came here as children, but in September, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of the program.
Why it matters: Sessions gave Congress six months to figure out what to do about the Dreamers, and if nothing is done, the removal of DACA's protections could lead to an uptick in deportations.
Don't forget:
- Since the very beginning, Trump has campaigned on a border wall, more deportation officers and tougher immigration policies.
- In February, then-DHS Secretary John Kelly signed two memos, which allowed ICE officers to arrest anyone they suspected of violating immigration laws, among other things. The memos caused a panic, and there were several stories published about ICE roundups and immigrations raids.
Trump vs. Obama: ICE officers in Texas feel a "night and day" difference in their work between Trump's and Obama's presidency, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Axios in October. He said that during the Obama administration "they were basically told not to do their job."
By the numbers:
- Trump's highest deportation month had only about half the number of deportations as Obama's highest month.
- In 2008, there were more than twice as many non-criminal deportations as criminal deportations. The ratio in 2016 was 0.71 — the third-lowest ratio, following 2015 and 2013.
- Unauthorized border crossing attempts have also dropped by almost 150,000, according to Customs and Border Protection data. This could partially contribute to the declining deportation numbers, as a number of arrests and deportations occur at the border.
- While deportations are down, there was a 25% increase in ICE arrests, the Washington Post reported.
Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect that 2009 was Obama's first year in office, not 2008.
