II. Recent Trends in U.S. Immigration Enforcement
h3>Deportationsh3>Deportations
In recent years, deportations of immigrants have reached record levels—nearly 400,000 a year during the Obama years, according to the Department of Homeland Security (2011a). This is 30% more than the 300,000 deported annually on average during the second term of the Bush administration. And it is nearly twice as many as the 200,000 deportations that occurred annually on average during Bush’s first term.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security uses the term “removal” rather than “deportation”[4. numoffset="4" Deportations are one type of removal and refer to the formal removal of a foreign citizen from the U.S. In addition, a foreign citizen may be expelled from the U.S. under an alternative action called an expedited removal. This procedure was first implemented with passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Deportations and expedited removals together comprise removals reported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.] to describe the actions of its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) divisions to expel a foreign national from the U.S. Each expulsion is based on an “order of removal” issued by an immigration court or by the Department of Homeland Security.[5. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 authorized the predecessor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to order the removal of a foreign citizen without referral to an immigration judge under certain circumstances. The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to directly remove foreign citizens when they are inadmissible because they have no entry documents or because they have used counterfeit, altered, or otherwise fraudulent or improper documents. The Department of Homeland Security may also remove a foreign citizen when that person arrives in, attempts to enter, or has entered the United States without having been admitted or paroled by an immigration officer at a port of entry. For more details, see
http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/stdfdef.shtm.] Reasons for an order of removal are either inadmissibility or the deportability of a foreign immigrant.
In recent years, deportations of immigrants have reached record levels—nearly 400,000 a year during the Obama years, according to the Department of Homeland Security (
2011a). This is 30% more than the 300,000 deported annually on average during the second term of the Bush administration. And it is nearly twice as many as the 200,000 deportations that occurred annually on average during Bush’s first term.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security uses the term “removal” rather than “deportation”[4. numoffset="4" Deportations are one type of removal and refer to the formal removal of a foreign citizen from the U.S. In addition, a foreign citizen may be expelled from the U.S. under an alternative action called an expedited removal. This procedure was first implemented with passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Deportations and expedited removals together comprise removals reported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.] to describe the actions of its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) divisions to expel a foreign national from the U.S. Each expulsion is based on an “order of removal” issued by an immigration court or by the Department of Homeland Security.[5. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 authorized the predecessor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to order the removal of a foreign citizen without referral to an immigration judge under certain circumstances. The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to directly remove foreign citizens when they are inadmissible because they have no entry documents or because they have used counterfeit, altered, or otherwise fraudulent or improper documents. The Department of Homeland Security may also remove a foreign citizen when that person arrives in, attempts to enter, or has entered the United States without having been admitted or paroled by an immigration officer at a port of entry. For more details, see
http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/stdfdef.shtm.] Reasons for an order of removal are either inadmissibility or the deportability of a foreign immigrant.
Country of Origin of Deportees
In 2010, deportees of Hispanic origin made up 97% of all deportees (
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2011a). Mexican immigrants alone accounted for nearly three-fourths (73%) of deportees in fiscal 2010. An additional 24% were from countries in Latin America other than Mexico, including Guatemala (8%), Honduras (6%) and El Salvador (5%).
According to Pew Hispanic Center estimates, Hispanics make up 81% of the nation’s 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants (
Passel and Cohn, 2011)—a share 16 percentage points lower than that among all deportees. Most of this differential arises from the disproportionate deportation of Mexican immigrants. Among the nation’s unauthorized immigrants, 58% are from Mexico, 15 percentage points lower than their share among all deportees.
Deportation of Convicted Criminalsh3>Deportations
In recent years, deportations of immigrants have reached record levels—nearly 400,000 a year during the Obama years, according to the Department of Homeland Security (
2011a). This is 30% more than the 300,000 deported annually on average during the second term of the Bush administration. And it is nearly twice as many as the 200,000 deportations that occurred annually on average during Bush’s first term.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security uses the term “removal” rather than “deportation”[4. numoffset="4" Deportations are one type of removal and refer to the formal removal of a foreign citizen from the U.S. In addition, a foreign citizen may be expelled from the U.S. under an alternative action called an expedited removal. This procedure was first implemented with passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Deportations and expedited removals together comprise removals reported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.] to describe the actions of its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) divisions to expel a foreign national from the U.S. Each expulsion is based on an “order of removal” issued by an immigration court or by the Department of Homeland Security.[5. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 authorized the predecessor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to order the removal of a foreign citizen without referral to an immigration judge under certain circumstances. The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to directly remove foreign citizens when they are inadmissible because they have no entry documents or because they have used counterfeit, altered, or otherwise fraudulent or improper documents. The Department of Homeland Security may also remove a foreign citizen when that person arrives in, attempts to enter, or has entered the United States without having been admitted or paroled by an immigration officer at a port of entry. For more details, see
http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/stdfdef.shtm.] Reasons for an order of removal are either inadmissibility or the deportability of a foreign immigrant.
Country of Origin of Deportees
In 2010, deportees of Hispanic origin made up 97% of all deportees (
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2011a). Mexican immigrants alone accounted for nearly three-fourths (73%) of deportees in fiscal 2010. An additional 24% were from countries in Latin America other than Mexico, including Guatemala (8%), Honduras (6%) and El Salvador (5%).
According to Pew Hispanic Center estimates, Hispanics make up 81% of the nation’s 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants (
Passel and Cohn, 2011)—a share 16 percentage points lower than that among all deportees. Most of this differential arises from the disproportionate deportation of Mexican immigrants. Among the nation’s unauthorized immigrants, 58% are from Mexico, 15 percentage points lower than their share among all deportees.
Deportation of Convicted Criminals
The overall increase in deportations during the Obama administration has been fueled in part by an intensified focus on deporting immigrants convicted of a crime. The number of criminal deportees rose from 105,000 in 2008 to 169,000 in 2010—an increase of 61%. As a share of all deportees, convicted criminals comprised 44% in 2010, up from 29% in 2008 (
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2011a).
The rising number of criminal deportees has been bolstered by programs administered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and apprehend deportable criminal convicts. These programs, such as the Criminal Alien Program (CAP), Secure Communities and 287(g), are administered in partnership with state and local law enforcement authorities.
Criminal deportees have been found guilty of a wide range of offenses. In 2010, one-fourth (25%) of such deportees were convicted of drug-related offenses, 19% of immigration offenses and 18% of criminal traffic violations such as DUI, reckless driving or vehicular assault. Together, these three offense categories made up the majority of all criminal deportations (62%).
Other categories of crimes committed by deported immigrants include assault (7%), larceny (3%), burglary (2%), fraudulent activities (2%), robbery (2%), family offenses (2%), and sexual assault (2%).
Border Apprehensions
Border apprehensions have fallen significantly in recent years, according to the U.S. Border Patrol (2011). In 2005, the Border Patrol reported nearly 1.2 million apprehensions of unauthorized border crossers. In 2011, that had fallen to 340,000—a drop of more than 70%. This decrease appears to be the result of a sharp reduction in the inflows of unauthorized immigrants since the middle of the last decade (Passel and Cohn, 2010).
