The U.S set a new record for deportations, removing nearly 400,000 undocumented immigrants in the last year. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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The agency removed 396,906 undocumented immigrants from the United States in the 2011 fiscal year, a slight increase from the previous year’s 392,826 removals. Administration officials said the increase is the result of a continued focus on policing undocumented immigration, a rebuttal to claims by GOP presidential candidates and others who say the president has been too soft on unauthorized immigration.
“Smart and effective immigration enforcement relies on setting priorities for removal and executing on those priorities,” ICE Director John Morton said in a statement. “These year-end totals indicate that we are making progress, with more convicted criminals, recent border crossers, egregious immigration law violators and immigration fugitives being removed from the country than ever before.”
President Barack Obama faces a difficult balance on immigration as the 2012 presidential campaign heats up. Most Republicans criticize him for doing too little to eliminate unauthorized immigration, and have taken action to block the Obama administration from using prosecutorial discretion to focus on some undocumented immigrants rather than others.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House committee overseeing immigration, announced a bill in June that would block the president from using his executive powers to halt any deportations — even though Obama has said repeatedly he would not do so.
At the same time, prominent immigration advocates argue Obama’s deportation policies could drive away Latino voters, who largely support paths to citizenship for the some 11.2 million unauthorized immigrants who are already in the country.
In August, senior administration officials tried to appease critics on the left by announcing a new deportation policy that would take family and community ties of undocumented immigrants into account when determining whether they should be removed from the United States.
