Drop in Deportations Not Enough

NILC Urges Obama Administration to Stop Senseless Deportations

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has announced that it deported 368,644 immigrants in fiscal year 2013. ICE removals this year bring the total deportations during the five years of the Obama administration to almost 2 million, surpassing the number of deportations during the eight years of the George W. Bush presidency.

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has long demanded that the Obama administration rein in its detention and deportation machine and stop targeting workers who pose no threat to national security or community safety. These deportations needlessly separate millions of families each year.

The following is a statement from Don Lyster, director of NILC’s Washington, DC, office:

“Today’s news only underscores that the administration has much more work to do. The 368,644 removals by ICE includes a huge number of actions against parents and family members of U.S. citizens, and does not include cases handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“The Obama administration has the legal and moral authority to mitigate the damage our broken immigration system causes. It must use its existing authority to stop deporting aspiring citizens every day and leaving a separated and heartbroken family in each deportation’s wake.

“Notably, the moderate drop in deportations has not been matched by a drop in spending on detentions and deportations of future citizens. This year, the federal government is spending $18 billion on efforts to find, detain, and deport immigrants, resources that could be better spent on educating our children or restoring access to safety-net programs.

“Until Congress acts on commonsense immigration reform, the administration must work harder to end the cycle of fear caused by its deportation policies.”

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