Did obama put ICE using teargas to deport people

1. Obama‑era CBP use of chemical agents: documented but concentrated at the border

Fact‑checkers and reporting relying on Department of Homeland Security/CBP data found that “tear gas” (CS) and pepper spray (Pava capsaicin) were used repeatedly at the U.S.–Mexico border during the Obama years: CBP data show 79 CS gas incidents in the five full fiscal years under Obama (FY2012–2016) and hundreds of pepper‑spray uses across similar years ^{[1] [2]}. News outlets documented specific years with higher counts (for example, 26–27 CS incidents in FY2012–2013) and reports noted that pepper spray incidents were particularly numerous in some years ^{[6] [2]}. These figures come from CBP, the agency that patrols ports of entry and the border — not ICE, which handles interior immigration enforcement ^[1].

2. Distinguishing CBP (border) actions from ICE (interior) actions matters

Multiple sources make a clear institutional distinction: CBP handles border control and has documented uses of CS gas and Pava capsaicin at ports of entry or in border crowd‑control situations ^{[1] [6]}. ICE is a separate agency that focuses on interior arrests and deportations; stories about ICE tactics in cities — including protests, arrests and allegations of tear gas use against protesters — are reported separately and relate to operations like local raids or enforcement blitzes ^{[3] [4] [5]}. Conflating CBP’s border crowd‑control incidents with ICE’s interior deportation operations therefore risks mixing two different operational contexts ^{[1] [3]}.

3. No source shows Obama “put ICE” on a policy of using tear gas to deport people

The reporting and data supplied in the provided sources describe CBP use of chemical agents at the border and critique the Obama administration for high overall deportation numbers and enforcement priorities; none of the sources presents evidence that President Obama ordered ICE to deploy tear gas to carry out deportations or that ICE had an institutional policy of using tear gas to deport people ^{[1] [7] [8]}. If the claim is that Obama personally ordered ICE to gas people as a deportation tool, available sources do not mention such an order ^{[1] [7]}.

4. Context on deportation numbers and enforcement priorities under Obama

Critics and analysts documented that deportations were relatively high under Obama — Migration Policy Center and reporting cite millions of removals over the administration and note an enforcement focus that changed over time toward certain priority groups — and immigrant‑rights groups criticized raids and “collateral arrests” ^{[7] [8] [9]}. Former ICE officials who served during Obama have publicly compared enforcement styles and warned about tactics used in later administrations, but those critiques address deportation strategy and targeting, not a documented, agency‑wide use of tear gas by ICE for deportations ^{[7] [3]}.

5. How the Obama‑era record has been used in later political debates

After high‑profile border incidents in 2018 and later, commentators and officials pointed to CBP’s past use of CS and pepper spray under prior administrations as context or as a rebuttal to criticism — FactCheck.org, Snopes and other outlets summarized CBP data showing prior administrations used chemical agents, and White House briefings referenced those figures during disputes over later incidents ^{[10] [1]}. These comparisons are accurate about past CBP actions but do not equate to an ICE deportation policy ordered by Obama ^{[10] [1]}.

6. What the sources agree and where uncertainty remains

Sources agree CBP used tear gas and pepper spray during the Obama years and that deportations were numerous under Obama ^{[6] [1] [7]}. Sources disagree in emphasis: some emphasize frequency in certain years ^{[6] [11]}, while fact‑checkers note that use was concentrated in particular incidents and dropped in later years ^[2]. What is not found in the reporting provided is evidence of a presidential directive that ICE use tear gas to carry out deportations within U.S. cities; available sources do not mention that ^{[3] [1]}.

Bottom line: CBP, the border agency, used chemical agents on occasion during the Obama years (documented by agency data), and Obama’s deportation record drew separate criticism — but the sources provided do not show that Obama ordered ICE to use tear gas to deport people, and they make a clear difference between CBP border crowd control and ICE interior enforcement ^{[1] [7] [3]}.