President Obama deserves his title as “deporter in chief,” according to the new federal “Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2013.”
The latest report from the Department of Homeland Security finds that Obama has shipped back 2,017,814 illegal immigrants in just five years. That number beats the previous record held by former President George W. Bush, who deported 2,012,539 over his full eight year term.
The numbers have steadily increased over the past four years, leading immigrants to protest Obama’s policies. The president has promised to make changes through executive orders that he promises will please Hispanic critics by trimming deportations.
But the sheer number of deportations undercuts that promise and shows a bureaucracy ready to reject the surge of illegal immigrants expected to rush over the U.S.-Mexico border this fall.
The Pew Research Center, which publicized the new Homeland Security yearly report, said that the deportations coincide with “stalled growth” of the illegal immigrant population and the rise in arrests at the border due to the surge of undocumented youths.
“A new shift in migration patterns emerged over the last two years: more Central American immigrants and unaccompanied children crossing the border. These trends have led to an increase in apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border. On the other hand, the number of Mexican immigrants apprehended at the border and the interior has continued to decline from a high of 1.1 million in 2005 to 425,000 in 2013,” said Pew.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
