Undocumented immigrants residing in the United States are in fear due to Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and his promise to deport them if he is re-elected. Trump has already won the 5th November presidential election. However, during his first term in the White House, his plans to deport large numbers of immigrants were halted.
It is also surprising that the current President, Joe Biden's administration, has continued anti-immigrant actions and has sent many individuals back to their home countries, similar to Trump's promises. There is little information available on the exact number of immigrants deported by this administration.
During his first term as president, Trump paid special attention to immigration. He attempted to build a wall along the southern border of the United States and restricted travel from foreign countries, particularly Muslim-majority nations, to the U.S. Through these actions, he signaled to American citizens and the world that immigrants were not welcome in the U.S. During that term, Trump also authorized anti-immigrant raids on businesses. Tom Homan, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), believes that Trump will be even tougher on immigrants if he assumes the presidency again in January.
On Monday, Homan told Fox News that Trump's stance on immigration in his second term could mirror that of his first term, but with an even greater number of immigrants being deported. Homan stated, “What happened during Trump’s first term will likely happen again, if not more. This is because, under the Biden administration, there are now about 10 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S.”
### Why Obama Deported More Immigrants Than Trump
Just like in his first term, Trump had committed to removing large numbers of immigrants from the country. He followed through on this promise by sending back over 1.5 million people to their home countries, according to Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.
However, before Trump, Democratic President Barack Obama deported nearly 2.9 million immigrants during his first term. This means that during his first term, Trump deported about half as many immigrants as Obama. During Obama's second term, 1.9 million immigrants were deported. In terms of deportations, Obama actually surpassed Trump.
According to Bush-Joseph's statistics, during President Biden's administration, approximately 1.49 million immigrants have been sent back to their home countries. However, this number does not include the millions of migrants who were forced to turn back at the border during the COVID-19 pandemic under Trump’s policies, which were largely continued during Biden’s tenure.
Bush-Joseph points out that, during Biden’s administration, the focus has mainly been on immigrants at the border. However, under both Trump and Obama, many of the immigrants deported were those living within the U.S.
During Obama's tenure, deportations mostly involved single individuals coming from Mexico. However, most of the undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. today come from various countries and are often part of family units. This has made the process of deportation more complex, not just legally, but also because many countries are unwilling to accept deported individuals. Under agreements with the Biden administration, Mexico has started accepting immigrants from other countries as well.
Kathleen Bush-Joseph notes that 1.3 million immigrants in the U.S. have already been issued deportation orders, but their removals have not yet been carried out. She explains that any administration dealing with immigration faces a strained, outdated system and a shortage of personnel.
### Obstacles to Mass Deportations
The challenge of deporting large numbers of immigrants from the U.S. is compounded by a variety of factors. David Bier, Director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute, explains that many local law enforcement agencies have stopped assisting federal immigration authorities. This trend began during Obama’s presidency and intensified during Trump’s first term.
Bier’s research suggests that Trump’s tough stance on immigration during his first term led to unintended consequences. For example, rather than prioritizing the removal of individuals with criminal records, Trump focused more on removing immigrants perceived as a threat to public safety. However, his administration did not prioritize deporting all undocumented immigrants, which led to the controversial "family separation" policy.
Bier argues that instead of focusing on removing criminals, the Trump administration filled detention centers with asylum seekers, inadvertently contributing to the problem of illegal immigration in the U.S.
In another study, Bier found that during Trump’s presidency, many immigrants who crossed the border illegally were detained in large numbers. This did not, however, result in an increase in actual deportations.
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