President Donald Trump isn’t the first to push for deportation of illegal immigrants charged with crimes beyond unlawfully entering the United States. Former President Obama built his own record on that score, though few of the critics blasting Trump’s focus on criminals raised a complaint against his actions or threat to ‘sanctuary cities.’
A report about the Obama record from Migration Policy Institute found that in 2016, 90 percent of those deported from interior United States, versus at the border, were outlaws.
“Removal priorities were increasingly focused on removing noncitizens convicted of crimes. In 2009, 51 percent of interior removals were of individuals convicted of what DHS described as serious crimes. In 2016, DHS reported that more than 90 percent of interior removals were of noncitizens convicted of serious crimes,” said the report, titled, “The Obama Record on Deportations: Deporter in Chief or Not?”
During his years in office, Obama “removed’ over 3 million illegals, focusing on those with criminal records. Trump has said he’d like to remove an estimated 3 million-4 million illegals that have criminal records.
Most of Obama’s removals, which require court action, did come at the border while Trump has indicated he wants to focus more on those already in the country and jails.
There were complaints lodged from pro-immigrant groups against broader deportations of illegals versus those charged with crimes by Obama, but his deportation numbers were far lower than those of either former President Bush or Clinton. For example, he deported half what Bush did, said the report.
Another area where Trump’s pro-immigration critics also gave Obama a pass on is the targeting of so-called ‘sanctuary cities.’
Just as Trump has warned the 300 jurisdictions that they will lose federal funds if they continue to block authorities from arresting criminal illegals, the Obama Justice Department issued a similar warning last summer.
However, few criticized Obama’s move after House Rep. John Culberson of Texas forced the issue. Last July, he received word that the Justice Department would act.
“Today, the DOJ notified local and state law enforcement agencies across America that they will no longer be eligible for federal law enforcement grants unless they certify under oath that their local or state laws do not interfere ‘in any way’ with requests for immigration information from federal authorities,” said Culberson in July.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
