Day: January 19, 2018

That’s not quite accurate. Towards the end of Dubya’s term, they changed the definition of deportation and who gets counted when tabulating ICE’s statistics. Until recent years, most people caught crossing the border where bused back into Mexico under what was called voluntary returns and these weren’t counted in the deportation statistics. It was basically catch and release. Under Bush and accelerated under Obama, people caught crossing illegally are fingerprinted, have formal charges in their records and are counted as deported.In the 1990s, there were over 1 million of these voluntary returns recorded per year.And if you read the article that you attached:In fiscal year 2015, 91 percent of people removed from inside the U.S. were previously convicted of a crime.The administration made the first priority threats to national security, border security, and public safety. That includes gang members, convicted felons or charged with aggravated felony and anyone apprehended at the border trying to enter the country illegally.In 2015, 81 percent, or 113,385, of the removals were the priority one removals.Seems to me that getting rid of violent criminals makes more sense in terms of allocation of resources than getting rid of a father of two who has lived here 30 years and paid his taxes … unless of course you’re deporting him because you’re Trump and you’re not fond of the colour of his skin.