More noncitizens avoiding deportation

Federal immigration judges are on track to let 89,383 immigrants facing deportation remain — at least temporarily — in the U.S. this fiscal year, the highest number in at least the last 16 years, according to a new report released this week.

The report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse — a research organization at Syracuse University – also shows immigration judges have ordered deportations in 53 percent of their cases so far this fiscal year. That is the lowest percentage since at least 1998.

Experts say these developments stem at least partly from the Obama administration’s shift in immigration enforcement. The government has been giving special consideration to certain groups of people through a process called “prosecutorial discretion.” Among those getting special attention are families and immigrants who were brought here illegally as children.