How many total deportations occurred each year under the Obama administration?
Executive summary
The user seeks the annual totals of deportations during the Obama administration (fiscal years 2009–2016); available reporting documents a multi-year surge in removals but the provided sources do not supply a full year‑by‑year table for every fiscal year, only aggregates and several specific years (for example, FY2012, FY2013, FY2015) [1] [2] [3] [4]. The best reconstruction supported by the material is an 8‑year total and several validated annual datapoints, together with contextual caveats about what “deportation” counts include (removals versus returns and interior removals versus border returns) [1] [5] [6].
1. What the question is actually asking and why it matters
Asking “How many total deportations occurred each year under the Obama administration” is a request for an annual breakdown of removals/returns across fiscal years 2009–2016; that breakdown matters because policy debates hinge on annual intensity (peaks and declines) and on distinctions between formal court-ordered removals and administrative/return statistics that many datasets combine or separate [5] [7].
2. The best numbers the supplied reporting supports: totals and key annual datapoints
One reputable analysis included among the supplied documents reports that from 2009 through 2016 the Obama administration carried out 2,749,706 deportations in total, averaging roughly 343,713 deportations per year across that eight‑year span [1]. Several individual fiscal‑year figures are explicitly provided in the reporting: fiscal year 2013 saw a record 438,421 removals [3], fiscal year 2012 is cited at about 409,849 removals in contemporary reporting [2] [4], and fiscal year 2015 is cited as having 235,413 removals [4].
3. What the sources do not provide and methodological caveats
None of the supplied excerpts presents a complete, line‑by‑line DHS yearbook table for every fiscal year 2009–2016; the many counts in public debate also mix “removals” (formal orders) with “returns” (administrative or voluntary departures) and with border apprehensions counted differently over time, so headline totals can be framed in alternate ways [5] [6]. Several sources warn that shifts in counting practices and emphasis (for example, focusing on recent border crossers and convicted criminals) changed the composition of removals under Obama even when aggregate removal totals rose early in the administration [7] [8].
4. A concise, sourced answer based on available reporting
Using only the supplied reporting, the closest direct answer is: total removals under President Obama from FY2009–FY2016 equal approximately 2,749,706 (an annual average of ~343,713), with documented annual peaks such as 409,849 removals in FY2012 and 438,421 removals in FY2013 and a lower figure of about 235,413 in FY2015 [1] [2] [3] [4]. That statement reflects the reporting’s aggregation and the specific annual datapoints the supplied pieces explicitly mention.
5. Context, competing framings and where to go next
Reporting emphasizes two competing narratives: critics and immigrant‑rights advocates called Obama the “deporter‑in‑chief” because of high removals in early years, while other analysts stress that the administration narrowed enforcement priorities toward recent crossers and criminal convictions rather than indiscriminate increases in all types of expulsions [7] [6]. Because DHS yearbook data and Migration Policy Institute analyses are repeatedly referenced in the supplied material as the authoritative sources for annual breakdowns, the DHS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics is the logical next stop for a verified, year‑by‑year table if more granular annual numbers are required [9] [7].