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Facts Dispel Myth that Obama Has Increased Deportations

August 30, 2012 By 7 Comments

For several years, those following immigration policy have been perplexed by seemingly contradictory events. While President Obama has been dismantling most immigration enforcement and putting into place a massive amnesty for two million illegal aliens, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been claiming that deportations are increasing to all-time highs.  How can this be true?

The simple answer is that it isn’t true. Deportations are decreasing and the administration has been fudging the numbers.

Last year, FAIR looked at who was being deported and discovered that while more illegal aliens with criminal histories were being removed, the share of non-criminal illegal aliens being removed had decreased.

Now, thanks to the investigative work of Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) we learn that the total number of deportations – including both criminal and non-criminal – is falling as well.  The reason is that DHS has revised their definition of what constitutes a “removal” and developed a new trick for keeping track.

Smith explains, “Since 2011, the Obama administration has included numbers from a Border Patrol program that returns illegal immigrants to Mexico right after they cross the Southwest border in their year-end deportation statistics. It is dishonest to count illegal immigrants apprehended by the Border Patrol along the border as ICE removals. And these ‘removals’ from the Border Patrol program do not subject the illegal immigrant to any penalties or bars for returning to the U.S. This means a single illegal immigrant can show up at the border and be removed numerous times in a single year – and counted each time as a removal.”

The accounting is deceptive, yet obviously self-serving.  After all, any little leaguer could trump Hank Aaron’s RBI record in baseball provided they simply took it upon themselves to redefine what constitutes a major league RBI.

Properly accounted for by using an apples-to-apples comparison, the Obama deportation numbers reflect quite a different story (see graph).

Deportations began rising under President Bush in 2007 (only after he finally began taking enforcement seriously and was rebuffed for trying to enact amnesty)  and continued into Obama’s first year in office. But Obama cannot claim credit even for that.  The brief increase was the result of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens put in proceedings under Bush. This “pipeline” of cases carried over into the Obama administration.  After the initial rise, deportations have fallen.

Year Total

2007:                                                291,060

2008:                                                369,221

2009:                                                389,834

2010:                                                392,862

2011:                                                360,000

2012                                                 263,000 (Year to Date)

2012                                                 315,000 (Year End Estimate)

The President has been able to hide his non-enforcement policies behind a thinly veiled claim of increased deportations which has helped him play both sides of the fence.  For special interests demanding amnesty, he’s dismantled most interior enforcement and put into place guidelines to grant millions of illegal aliens deferred action.  For those wanting some semblance of enforcement – a rule of law – he’s fabricated a thinly veiled claim of increased deportations.

Since that ruse is now over, we wonder what will be the new “yes, but” arguments made by this administration and amnesty groups desperate to have something with which to sugarcoat their bitter pill of amnesty while they continue gutting the orderly administration of immigration laws.

Filed Under: Border, Crime, Jobs, Law, National, Politics, Population, Society

Summer 2012 Guide to the Immigration Issue

May 30, 2012 By 5 Comments

Ok, so maybe it’s not exactly a cheap novel to enjoy under the beach umbrella on a sandy shore, but it is a short – and hopefully helpful – primer of the hot issues and updated stats for those following the immigration policy debate this summer.

Two issues presently dominate the debate; state action soon culminating in a Supreme Court decision on Arizona’s SB-1070 and the use (and abuse) of immigration policy by both parties in an election year to influence special interest voters.

The Election

  • The Obama Administration continues extending backdoor amnesty to thousands of deportable aliens, while Congress sits on its hands, despite the overt usurpation of Congressional authority.
  • Former Governor Mitt Romney is wavering on immigration enforcement policy he articulated throughout the primary. Additionally, he has failed to address if and how he might reverse the backdoor amnesty policies underway should he become President.
  • In the battle for the Hispanic vote, both parties consider more concessions for illegal and legal immigrants. Republican Senator Marco Rubio is drafting a GOP DREAM Act hoping to capture Romney’s support while Democrats continue to push amnesty legislation.

The States

  • The Supreme Court decision on Arizona’s SB 1070 enforcement law is expected in late June. The battle for immigration enforcement continues at the state level. Recent efforts to weaken Alabama’s state law failed and other states continue to explore E-Verify and enforcement legislation.
  • The Obama administration is aggressively shutting down state and local enforcement efforts, whether it’s by suing states over new laws or defunding local enforcement programs like 287(g) or weakening Secure Communities.

Congress

  • Senator Marco Rubio wants GOP to support amnesty and increase legal immigration. Rubio appears to have either self-appointed himself the election year “immigration issue broker” or been assigned the task by the GOP. He is shopping around a GOP version of the DREAM Act but, thus far, has refused to disclose the details of the plan.
  • Republicans and Democrats push visa reforms and additions to unnecessarily increase legal immigration. Rather than tackle the underlying issues with our immigration system or acknowledge that the U.S. already admits over 1 million legal permanent residents a year, leaders in both parties advocate for more visas and looser requirements.
  • Nationwide E-Verify bill is stalled in the House Ways and Means Committee. Along with requiring E-Verify, the bill could pre-empt state enforcement laws.

Number of Illegal Aliens

  • 12 million (FAIR, 2010)
  • 11.2 million (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010)
  • 10.8 million (DHS. FY 2010)

Number of Jobs Presently Held by Illegal Aliens

  • 7 million (2010)

National Unemployment Rate

  • 8.1% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2012)
  • Over 22 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up actively looking for work. (BLS, April 2012)

Unskilled Immigrant Admissions

  • Nearly 1 million (Department of Homeland Security, FY 2011)

Annual National Cost of Illegal Immigration

  • $113 billion
  • The bulk of the costs – $84 billion – are absorbed by state and local governments

Pending Enforcement Legislation

  • Several attempts to close loophole that allows illegal aliens to receive the Additional Child Tax Credit. The latest House version was added to the House passed budget. Two bills have been introduced in the Senate.
  • The House adopted an amendment to the FY 2013 spending bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS), that defunds the Obama Administration’s lawsuits against several states that seek to strike down their immigration enforcement laws.
  • The House adopted another amendment to the CJS appropriations bill that strips certain federal funding from sanctuary cities.

Pending Amnesty Legislation

  • DREAM Act – Versions introduced in both House and Senate (H.R. 1842, S. 952) in 2011. Introduced in every session since 2001 and often lumped into other amnesty bills. Last failed in Senate in December 2010.
  • Comprehensive Immigration Reform (S. 1258) – mass amnesty, introduced nearly every session. No vote on it yet during this session.
  • Adjusted Residency for Military Service (ARMS) Act (H.R. 3823) – Introduced by Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) in January. It is essentially only the military component of the DREAM act. Forthcoming?: GOP DREAM Act from Senator Marco Rubio.

States to Watch

  • Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Utah – the Supreme Court decision in Arizona SB 1070 will affect active DOJ lawsuits against these states.
  • California – considering tax plan and guest worker program for illegal aliens.
  • Illinois, Massachusetts, New York – Governors of these states refuse to cooperate with Secure Communities. DHS is set for full compliance in 2013. Will these states hold out?
  • Mississippi – the House passed an immigration enforcement bill in March, will they take it up again next session?
  • New Mexico – the battle over driver’s licenses for illegal aliens continues. If they repeal, Washington will be the only state that gives driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.
  • Oregon – Governor supports allowing illegal aliens to use Matricula Consular ID in place of driver’s license.

In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens

  • Total of 13 states have passed in-state tuition for illegal aliens
  • Maryland passed in-state tuition for illegal aliens in 2011, however activists led a successful petition drive and the law will be put to referendum in November 2012.
  • Wisconsin repealed in-state tuition for illegal aliens in 2011.

Miles of Fence Constructed

  • 649 miles out of the 1,954 mile-long southern border is secured by fence
  • 299 miles of vehicle barriers
  • 350 miles of pedestrian fencing

Deportations Stats 2010

  • Criminal removals        168,532
  • Voluntary                        88,112
  • Total                               387,242

Deportation Stats 2011

  • Criminal removals        216,698
  • Voluntary                        77,829
  • Total                               396,906

Deportation Stats 2012 YTD

  • ICE has removed 127,044 criminal illegal immigrants this fiscal year.
  • Deportations are lagging behind last year’s rate by approximately 12,000, or 9%. (According to ICE comments to Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2012)

Mexican Border Violence

  • 47,515 killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006.
  • 49 beheaded bodies recently found on highway in northern state of Nuevo Leon.
  • Obama Administration rolls back National Guard, shifts to drone surveillance.
Filed Under: Border, Crime, Education, Jobs, Law, Local, National, Politics, Population, Society

What draws undocumented workers

November 1, 2011 By 10 Comments

Mr. William Chip, a FAIR board member, responded to a recent Washington Post article by Michael Gerson about GOP campaigns’ strategies concerning illegal immigration through the following letter to the editor:

In his Oct. 28 op-ed, “ Fanning the flame on immigration,” Michael Gerson said that GOP campaigns that challenge the provision of subsidized education and medical benefits to illegal immigrants are “repellent” and that, in any event, it is economic opportunity, not government benefits, that are the “magnet” for illegal immigration. Mr. Gerson missed the point. These benefits may not be magnets for undocumented workers, but they are incentives for otherwise temporary workers to bring their families to this country and then stay put.

Before the 1970s, most illegal immigrants left their families at home, where the cost of living was much lower. The families were the “magnet” that eventually drew these migrants back home. After the Great Society’s expansion of public subsidies for health care and the Supreme Court’s 1982 decision opening public schools to children of illegal immigrants, the calculus changed.

I have no doubt that Mexicans love their kids as much as we Americans love ours. If public schooling and nonemergency medical care were unavailable to the children of undocumented workers, their parents would not bring them to this country in the first place.

Filed Under: Border, Crime, Jobs, Law, National, Politics, Population, Society

The Ear – Newsbytes on Immigration

September 27, 2011 By 2 Comments

Tuesday Sep. 27… Last week’s Republican debate offered more meat-and-potato answers on the immigration issue thanks in no small part to substantive questions, one of them was posed by our own media staffer Kristen Williamson – “the most substantive question,” according to the Huffington Post.. Did they support E-Verify? The question established the link between jobs and immigration, firing up meaningful and long overdue debate. Looks like the candidates may have gotten the wakeup call that simply promising to secure the borders isn’t enough. Voters want to know how they’re going to deal with the magnets that attract so many illegal aliens in the first place. Just ask Gov. Perry, who is still suffering a debate hangover caused by his defense of illegal alien in-state tuition …. the number of illegal aliens caught crossing the border is down and the Washington Post didn’t miss a beat suggesting in yesterday’s editorial that because of that, it’s time to implement amnesty! New numbers are due out this week from DHS and we’re sure to hear more calls for amnesty now that the “border is secure”- which by the way, it most certainly is not..…a National E-Verify bill passed the House Judiciary Committee and heads to the floor. Prepare for fireworks because the bill strips away the right of states to enforce immigration laws in exchange for E-Verify. This presents an odd quandary for true immigration reform advocates. Our preference? A clean E-Verify bill that retains state rights. Massachusetts to get an immigration bill? It’s a long shot, but an omnibus bipartisan immigration enforcement bill has been introduced that would restrict benefits to illegal aliens and enhance law enforcement’s ability to verify legal status. Could Rhode Island be next?

Filed Under: Crime, Jobs, Law, Local, National, Politics, Population, Society

Immigration Hurts the Working Class

September 9, 2011 By 15 Comments

By William Chip, FAIR Board Member

In today’s Washington Post: “Nearly one in three Americans who grew up middle-class has slipped down the income ladder as an adult, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts.”

Maybe we need to refocus and redirect our message. Our decades-old message that immigration hurts the working class has not resonated. The working-class Americans who need protection aren’t paying attention. The unions and other “progressives” who should care about their fate are immobilized by political correctness.

We need to get the message out to middle-class parents, who have spent a fortune educating their kids, that it is their kids’ jobs that are now in the sight of the immigration lobby. First it was “jobs Americans won’t do”. Now (according to Mitt Romney) it’s “jobs Americans can’t do.”

The economic analysis is not hard. American wages are determined by supply and demand. In our globalized economy demand for products and services made by highly paid American workers is declining and will continue to decline as Third-World countries ramp up their industrial bases and educational systems. Yet, even as demand for workers based in America declines, the supply grows relentlessly because of immigration. Shrinking demand, growing supply. No wonder many middle-class Americans have “slipped down the income ladder.”

Filed Under: Education, Jobs, Law, Population, Society