Obama Administration Also Srparated Children Snd Families at the Border

Barack Obama was famously labeled "deporter in chief" by critics in the immigrant-rights community, even as enforcement-first advocates accused his administration of being soft on unauthorized immigrants. Which perception is accurate? With the Obama presidency just concluded, a closer examination demonstrates the administration's record is more nuanced than either criticism would imply.

Advisedly calibrated revisions to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration enforcement priorities and practices achieved two goals: Increasing penalties against unauthorized border crossers by putting far larger shares into formal removal proceedings rather than voluntarily returning them beyond the border, equally had been longstanding exercise; and making noncitizens with criminal records the top enforcement target. While in that location were fewer removals and returns under the Obama administration than each of the 2 prior administrations (see Table 1), those declines must be understood against the backdrop of a significant reduction in border apprehensions that resulted from a sharp subtract in unauthorized inflows, in detail of Mexicans. Analysts take attributed this trend, which began under the Bush assistants, to improved economic conditions in Mexico, reduced postrecession job need in the United States, ramped-up enforcement, and the increased use of dissimilar enforcement tactics at the border.

The enforcement priorities and policies, which evolved over the years, represented a meaning departure from those of the Bush-league and Clinton administrations. As detailed beneath, the Obama-era policies represented the culmination of a gradual but consequent try to narrow its enforcement focus to two key groups: The deportation of criminals and recent unauthorized border crossers.

The most recent enforcement figures released past the Section of Homeland Security (DHS) on Dec thirty offer the latest testify of these trends. Eighty-five percent of all removals and returns during fiscal year (FY) 2016 were of noncitizens who had recently crossed the U.South. border unlawfully. Of the remainder, who were removed from the U.S. interior, more than ninety percent had been convicted of what DHS defines every bit serious crimes.

Border apprehensions and removals increased in FY 2016 compared to the prior year, DHS reported. In FY 2016, DHS carried out 530,250 apprehensions and 344,354 removals, compared to 462,388 apprehensions and 333,341 removals a year earlier. Despite the increase, these numbers were far lower than the peak of enforcement operations at the start of the Obama years, after he inherited a robust enforcement regime from his predecessors. These numbers dipped every bit new enforcement priorities were put in place, before rebounding slightly at the end of the Obama presidency.

Obama Inherits a Formidable Clearing Machinery

President Obama inherited a more legally robust and better-resourced clearing enforcement authorities than his predecessors had. A series of laws in 1996 established new grounds for deportation, penalties for the crimes of illegal entry and re-entry, mandates for detention of deportable noncitizens, and a framework for cooperative arrangements on clearing enforcement between the federal government and state and local law enforcement agencies. Though authorized during the Clinton administration, many of these enforcement tools were not deployed and fully resourced until the Bush administration, generally in the backwash of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Beginning in 2002, the federal regime began 287(m) agreements, assuasive land and local law enforcement officials to perform certain immigration enforcement functions. By the end of the Bush assistants, more than 70 such agreements had been signed.

In 2003, Congress created DHS, including in it all immigration functions. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the DHS component responsible for enforcement at the border, saw its border agent manpower rising from ten,000 in 2003 to 17,000 in 2008. Over the same period, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the DHS component responsible for interior enforcement, experienced an increase in agents from two,700 to 5,000.

At the border, CBP in 2005 introduced the Consequence Commitment System (CDS), designed to toughen the tactics used confronting unauthorized crossers in hopes of deterring futurity entry attempts. Instead of allowing unauthorized entrants to return to United mexican states voluntarily, without whatever meaningful legal consequences, formal removal proceedings became far more common as did criminal charges for illegal entry or re-entry.

In addition, in the years following nine/eleven, immigration, criminal, and national-security screening systems beyond executive-branch agencies were expanded, upgraded, and integrated. These interoperable information systems became accessible to consular and immigration officials, as well as to local law enforcement. The Bush-league assistants, in its final days, launched Secure Communities, a plan allowing the fingerprints of those arrested by local law enforcement to exist matched against federal criminal and clearing databases operated by the Federal Agency of Investigation (FBI) and DHS.

Taken together, these combined enforcement initiatives resulted in a record loftier of virtually 360,000 formal removals in FY 2008—234,000 of them from the interior of the The states.

The Obama Displacement Record: A Shift from Returns to Removals

When President Obama took role in 2009, his administration abased some Bush-league-era strategies, such as worksite enforcement operations, but allowed others to scale up. By 2013, Secure Communities was operational in all jails and prisons in the The states. And the Border Patrol began systematically applying CDS border-wide starting in 2011.

Congressional funding for clearing enforcement continued to rise. In FY 2012, federal immigration enforcement funding reached almost $18 billion—a figure 24 percent higher than funding allocated to all other principal federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined (the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Cloak-and-dagger Service, U.South. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives).

Every bit a result of these resources and strategies, noncitizen removals increased significantly, while apprehensions and overall deportations both remained far lower than the numbers seen under the Bush and Clinton administrations.

Table 1. Immigration Enforcement  Record, FY 1993-2016

Notes: Get-go in fiscal year (FY) 2008, apprehensions include administrative arrests conducted by U.Southward. Clearing and Community Enforcement (Water ice) Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Sources: Financial year (FY) 2003-15 information from Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Yearbook of Clearing Statistics (Washington, DC: DHS Office of Immigration Statistics, 2015), available online; FY 2016 data from DHS, "DHS Releases Cease of Year Fiscal Year 2016 Statistics" (press release, December thirty, 2016), available online.

These figures demonstrate the Obama administration's focus on formal removals instead of returns, with formal removals under Obama far outpacing those of the Bush and Clinton administrations fifty-fifty as returns were far lower. This policy to ensure that removals have a lasting legal result likely reduced the number of unauthorized immigrants attempting to cross the edge multiple times: Overall, backsliding along the border fell from 29 percent in FY 2007 to 14 percent in FY 2014, and was much higher for migrants given voluntary return (31 percent) than for those subjected to formal removal (xviii percent), according to CDS information.

Evolution of Enforcement: Prioritizing Criminals and Recent Border Crossers

Over the course of the Obama administration there was a pronounced shift in focus to the removal of contempo border crossers and criminals rather than ordinary status violators apprehended in the U.S. interior. The underlying reasoning was to deter illegal border crossing and remove unauthorized immigrants before they become integrated into U.South. communities. Every bit shown in Figure 1, interior removals decreased sharply from 181,798 in FY 2009 to 65,332 in FY 2016, while edge removals stayed high and increased, from 207,525 to 279,022 over the same period.

Figure i. DHS Removals by Anticipation Location, FY 2009-16

Sources: FY 2009-13 information are from Marc R. Rosenblum and Kristen McCabe, Displacement and Discretion: Reviewing the Tape and Options for Modify (Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2014), bachelor online; FY 2014 data are from DHS, "DHS Releases End of Year Statistics" (press release, December 19, 2014), available online; FY 2015 information are from DHS, "DHS releases end of fiscal year 2015 statistics" (printing release, December 22, 2015), available online; FY 2016 data are from DHS, "DHS Releases Terminate of Year Financial Year 2016 Statistics" (press release, December 30, 2016), available online.

The combined number of individuals removed and returned decreased significantly between the first and 2d Obama terms: from 3.2 1000000 to 2.1 million. This pass up was driven well-nigh entirely, as described to a higher place, by the subtract in the number of individuals voluntarily returned, rather than formally removed. From the first to 2nd term, returns decreased significantly, from 1,609,249 to 593,104, while removals fell simply slightly, from 1,575,423 to 1,518,785.

Also, 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 than xc percent of interior removals were of noncitizens convicted of serious crimes.

In November 2014, President Obama appear a number of further changes in immigration enforcement, including agencywide policy guidance on which categories of removable noncitizens should exist the highest priority for enforcement. Iii levels were detailed:

• Priority 1: National security threats, noncitizens apprehended immediately at the edge, gang members, and noncitizens bedevilled of felonies or aggravated felonies as defined in immigration police force.
• Priority 2: Noncitizens convicted of 3 or more than misdemeanors or ane serious misdemeanor, those who entered or re-entered the United States unlawfully after January i, 2014, and those who have significantly abused visa or visa waiver programs.
• Priority iii: Noncitizens subject to a final order of removal issued on or subsequently January 1, 2014.

The priorities codified a tendency initiated in 2009 (run across Table 2).

Table 2. Removals and Their Relationship to the 2014 Enforcement Priorities

Source: Marc R. Rosenblum, Understanding the Potential Impact of Executive Action on Immigration Enforcement (Washington, DC: Migration Policy Plant, 2015), bachelor online.

Once announced in 2014, the DHS enforcement priorities became even more than sharply focused on criminals and contempo arrivals. In a argument, DHS reported that in FY 2015 and FY 2016, more than 99 percent of all removals and returns vicious within the three priorities. In FY 2015, 92 percent of removals and returns occurred within Priority 1, a charge per unit that rose to 94 percentage in FY 2016. Some analysts aspect the sharper focus on the top priorities to the fact that the 2014 guidelines, unlike ones issued in 2010 and 2011, applied to all DHS immigration agencies, while the earlier ones were issued past and applied only to ICE.

Obama'south Mixed Legacy and Looking Ahead to Enforcement nether the Trump Administration

While the Obama administration record is characterized by much higher removals than preceding administrations, it also shows less focus on increasing accented numbers of overall deportations and a higher priority on targeting the removals of recently arrived unauthorized immigrants and criminals. The administration besides placed a much lower priority on removing those who had established roots in U.S. communities and had no criminal records. This prioritization was achieved by a slowly evolving but deliberate policy, highlighted by the administration's November 2014 executive actions on immigration.

The process of focusing and targeting enforcement resource has fix the initial stage for the Trump administration. This week President Donald Trump signed two executive orders promising wide-ranging expansions of the enforcement arrangement, including priorities that focus on removing not only noncitizens with criminal records, but also those who accept committed potentially criminal acts or who have abused public benefits. Yet, like Obama, only his eventual record on immigration will tell how it compares with his predecessors' in terms of prioritizing overall numbers of removals and the categories of individuals existence removed.

National Policy Shell in Brief

United States Ends "Wet-Foot, Dry-Human foot" Policy on Cuban Migrants. Following months of secret negotiations, the United States and Cuba announced on Jan 12 that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ended the "wet-pes, dry out-foot" policy on Cuban migrants inbound the United States. A central component of this shift involves the Cuban government's agreement to accept the return of Cuban nationals deported by the Us. The policy, established in 1995, allowed Cuban migrants who reached U.S. land to be paroled into the country, while those intercepted at sea were returned to Cuba. Nether the 1996 Cuban Aligning Deed, Cuban migrants who successfully make it to the United states are able to adjust their status to that of permanent residents (i.e. light-green card holders) after ane yr. Now, Cuban migrants entering without valid visas or travel documents will be treated as any other noncitizen, including existence bailiwick to expedited removal. Those intercepted at bounding main will exist treated as earlier. In addition to ending the wet-pes, dry-pes policy, the U.s.a. rescinded the Cuban Medical Professional person Parole Plan, which allowed Cuban medical professionals serving abroad to seek parole to enter the The states at U.South. embassies. Havana has long pressed the U.s.a. to end the medical professional person parole program, as well as the wet-human foot, dry-foot policy, which information technology claimed encourages unsafe migration journeys and human trafficking. The wet foot, dry foot announcement follows the normalization of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations announced in Dec 2014. The number of Cubans arriving in the United States has about doubled since fiscal year (FY) 2014, from 25,338 then to 48,520 through the offset x months of FY 2016.

• Associated Press article on the cease of the moisture-foot, dry-pes policy
• Joint statement past the United States and Cuba on the Jan 12, 2017 understanding
• DHS fact sheet on the changes to parole and expedited removal for Cuban nationals
• MPI commentary on the policy changes

Trump Nominates and Senate Confirms Marine General John Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary . President Donald Trump nominated retired Marine General John Kelly equally Homeland Security Secretary. The Senate then confirmed the nomination on Jan twenty, and he was sworn in the same day. Kelly served for 45 years in the Marines and from 2012 to 2016 headed the U.South. Southern Command, which oversees U.Due south. military operations in Key and S America. Kelly'south confirmation hearing on January 10 focused on a variety of security- and clearing-related topics, including illegal immigration and edge security. When asked most construction of further barriers at the U.Southward.-Mexico edge, Kelly stated that a wall lone would not stem migration flows, and instead argued for "a layered approach," involving engineering, personnel, and cooperation with countries south of the U.s.a.. He emphasized the importance of addressing the root causes of migration in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, including violence and lack of economic opportunity. Kelly also declined to direct address whether individuals granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) under the Obama administration would exist priorities for removal, expressed doubt about the legality of so-called sanctuary city policies, and stated that he would not support vetting immigrants based solely on ethnicity or religion.

• The Colina article on Kelly's nomination
• Washington Post article on Kelly'due south confirmation

Senators Introduce Bills to Protect DACA Beneficiaries. A bipartisan grouping of senators has introduced a bill that would provide protections for some young people who came to the United States as children and received relief from deportation nether the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme created past President Obama. Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced the Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy (Span) Act on December 9. The bill would create a program identical to the DACA program, the 2012 Obama executive action that allows qualified unauthorized immigrants brought to the United States every bit children to employ for work authorization and temporary protection against removal. During the campaign, President Donald Trump committed to rescinding a number of Obama executive actions on immigration, including DACA. The Bridge Act would grant DACA beneficiaries and those who come across DACA eligibility requirements benefits that would be identical to those granted under DACA for three years post-obit the engagement of enactment of the legislation. In addition, the nib prohibits the use of personal information submitted in DACA applications for deportation purposes, except in cases of threats to national security or a felony investigation.

Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a cosponsor of the Span Deed, also introduced the Securing Active and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Deed, which ties the protection measures proposed in the Bridge Human activity to additional enforcement measures. The Rubber Act, which includes language identical to the Bridge Act, would also require the Section of Homeland Security (DHS) to concord without release unauthorized immigrants convicted of or arrested for major crimes, and would crave the deportation of those noncitizens within 90 days of detention. Both bills were reintroduced in the 115th Congress on January 12.

• Politico article on introduction of the Bridge Act
• Arizona Republic article on introduction of the Safe Act
• The BRIDGE Act, S.128
• The SAFE Deed, S.127

Obama Administration Dismantles NSEERS Regulations . In December the Obama assistants rescinded regulations for the National Security Entry-Leave Registration System (NSEERS), a national registry programme established in 2002 in the backwash of the ix/11 terrorist attacks for visitors from countries where terrorist groups were nowadays. The programme has been dormant since 2011, but advocates pressed the president to rescind the regulations out of concern that they could be utilized by President-elect Trump once in office. Trump promised during his entrada to create a registry of Muslims in the Us, and Republicans specifically called for the renewal of NSEERS in their 2016 political party platform.

• New York Times commodity on the move to finish the NSEERS plan
• DHS Notice of Final Rule

Temporary Protected Status for Yemen and Somalia Extended. On January 4, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson redesignated Republic of yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and extended the designation for an additional xviii months, due to the persistence of armed conflict and the continued deterioration of atmospheric condition for civilians in the land. Yemen was originally designated for TPS in September 2015. To exist eligible, Yemeni nationals and those who last habitually resided in Yemen must have continuously resided in the United states since January four, 2017 and take been continuously physically present since March iv, 2017. This TPS designation will last from March iv through September iii, 2018. In add-on, on January 17, Johnson extended the TPS designation for Somalia for an boosted 18 months, effective March 18 through September 17, 2018. TPS grants work authority and protection from displacement to certain nationals of designated countries deemed unsafe for repatriation due to ongoing armed disharmonize or the furnishings of a natural disaster. In total, 13 countries are currently designated for TPS: El salvador, Guinea, Republic of haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

• Announcement by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the redesignation and extension of Republic of yemen for TPS
• Declaration by USCIS of the extension of Somalia for TPS

State Policy Beat in Brief

Lawsuit on Texas Immigrant Harboring Law Heard in Federal Courtroom. On January 5, a three-approximate panel of the Fifth U.Due south. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals heard arguments over the implementation of a provision of a 2015 Texas border security neb that makes it a crime to conceal or harbor unauthorized migrants. The Mexican American Legal Defence force and Educational Fund (MALDEF) get-go challenged the harboring provision in Jan 2016, arguing it violates the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the federal authorities exclusive authority over immigration enforcement. In April, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the harboring provision while the case was ongoing. The plaintiffs, two landlords who practise not inquire about the immigration status of tenants and the head of an immigrant-service organization, contend that under the harboring provision, they could be accused of a law-breaking for continuing to house unauthorized immigrants. The Texas Attorney Full general's office argues this concern is unwarranted because the neb did non include a specific punishment for renting to or sheltering unauthorized immigrants.

• Texas Tribune article on the court case

Court Rules DACA Recipients in Georgia Eligible for In-Land Tuition . A Superior Court guess in suburban Atlanta ruled on December thirty that DACA beneficiaries are eligible for in-state tuition rates at Georgia universities. A 2008 state law provides that individuals who are "legally in this state" are eligible for in-state tuition, a charge per unit that is 1-third of out-of-state tuition. The ten plaintiffs, all DACA recipients, successfully argued that they qualified for in-state tuition under the 2008 law due to their federally established legal presence. The Georgia Lath of Regents appealed the conclusion, and although the Fulton County judge, Gail Tusan, refused to put her order on hold during the process, the Board of Regents has too asked the Courtroom of Appeals to put it on concur. As of Jan xi, the Court of Appeals had not made public any decision on whether it will allow the judge's order to become into effect during the appeals process.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution article on the instance

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Source: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deportations-deporter-chief-or-not

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