Deportations hit record number!!

Last year, the Obama administration deported nearly 400,000 people. A record driven up by those tossed out for traffic violations and drunk driving. 

According to the Associated Press, ousting out those with relatively minor offenses raises questions about whether the administration has lived up to its promise to focus on deporting the most dangerous offenders.  

During the fiscal year that ended in Sept. 30, 393,000 people were departed and only half of those were considered criminals. Of the criminal deportations, 7 percent were based on traffic violations, 23 percent were drug violations and 14 percent were drunken driving violations, according to an analysis by the AP. 

President Obama has said that his administration's enforcement policy seeks to target the "worst of the worst" and not individuals who have come to country to work. However, the large number of people who were deported after having committed minor crimes challenges this idea.

Administration officials disputed these findings claiming that it is difficult to capture the increase in arrests of dangerous criminals in these reports because they are currently in jail in the U.S. and have not been deported. Thus, they are not reflected in current deportation statistics. 

"The more serious offenders are still in prison." Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the AP. "We're not going to see them reflected in the numbers until we can begin to remove them."

The increase in deportations comes against the background of stalled immigration reforms legislation in Congress and an effort by both parties to reach out to a burgeoning group of Latino voters, which make up a key constituency in several key swing states and are expected to have even more political clout in coming decades. 

Obama has come under criticism from the left for increasing deportations and not acting more quickly on the immigration reform legislation, which was a significant part of his 2008 campaign.

While overall deportations are up, the Obama administration has not aggressively enforced several high profile immigration cases involving young people who were brought to this country illegally when they were young and are now attending college, a decision that is in line with the directive to law enforcement to focus on criminals, according to the AP. 

Based on a Politico article by Elias Groll

For more information, please contact our office:

Sharlene Mae Bagon, Esq.

BAGON LAW FIRM

21550 Oxnard Street, 3rd Floor

Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Main: (818) 224-6632

Direct: (818) 539-0120

Fax: (888) 589-0804
www.bagonlawfirm.com