The Obama administration carried out 438,421 deportations in fiscal year 2013, a 5 percent increase over the year before, according to a federal report released Thursday.
The report by the U.S. Homeland Security Department comes as President Barack Obama faces criticism from immigrant rights groups for his administration’s enforcement efforts. His critics have dubbed him “the deporter in chief.”
Obama has pledged to take executive action and revamp the nation’s enforcement of immigration as legislation to overhaul the stem remains stalled in Congress. He is expected to act after the Nov. 4 congressional elections and expand protections for immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the president's Republican critics in Congress are pressing him for details about what he will do concerning the hot-button issue. They say his administration has already gone too far by providing deportation deferrals and work permits to young immigrants who were illegally brought here as children.
Most of last fiscal year’s deportations — 193,032 — were “expedited removals,” or ones that happened without first holding hearings before immigration judges. The next-largest group — 170,247 — was triggered by “reinstatements.” In those cases, authorities deported people who illegally re-entered the country after they were ordered to leave.
Mexicans accounted for most of the expedited removals and reinstatements, followed by Central Americans.
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