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.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why Rikers Island will no longer be under New York City's controlThe Explainer A 'remediation manager' has been appointed to run the infamous jail
-
California may pull health care from eligible undocumented migrantsIN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
