U.S. deportations reach all time high

last updated 8 January 2015

For three years running, the Obama administration has deported a record number of illegal immigrants, according to figures released this week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. John Morton, the director of ICE, said the agency deported nearly 400,000 individuals during fiscal 2011, and that 55 percent of them had felony or misdemeanor convictions. “In the face of limited resources, we have to prioritize, and that starts with criminal offenders,” he said. Though more than 1 million undocumented immigrants have been deported since Obama took office, he has faced criticism from the GOP for not doing more and from liberals for failing to pass immigration reform.