How many kids from illegal immigrants have been deported under obama
Executive summary
The short answer: the provided reporting does not supply a reliable, specific count of how many children of, or children who were themselves, undocumented immigrants were deported during the Obama administration — the public record cited here gives totals for removals that number in the millions but does not break out a defensible figure for “kids” as phrased in the question [1] [2] [3]. What can be said with confidence is that Obama-era removals were large in absolute terms and that critics and advocates dispute what those totals mean for children and families [4] [5] [6].
1. What the data that exists actually counts: millions of removals, not a clear “kids” category
Department of Homeland Security–style statistics and most media analyses cite total removals and returns across the Obama years, producing multi‑million figures — for example several outlets and fact‑checks place total removals under Obama in the roughly 2.5–3 million range over his two terms [2] [1] [3] — but those tallies aggregate adults and children, border expulsions and interior removals, and different administrative categories, so they cannot be converted into a clean count of “kids from illegal immigrants” without more granular source data [4] [7].
2. Ambiguity in the question matters: “kids” could mean different populations
The phrase “kids from illegal immigrants” could mean (a) children who themselves were undocumented arrivals and deported as minors, or (b) U.S.‑citizen children whose undocumented parents were deported and thus separated from kids; the sources provided do not offer a definitive number for either group for the Obama years, so any precise numeric claim about “how many kids” would be extrapolation beyond the supplied reporting [8] [6].
3. What reporting and research do document about policy impact on children and families
Advocacy and watchdog groups documented cases of family separations, coercive tactics at the border, and expedited non‑judicial removals that affected parents and sometimes children, and the ACLU and others flagged abuses that included threats and coercion implicating families during the Obama period [9] [6]. Scholars and policy analysts have also noted that enforcement priorities and the shift toward fast‑track removals changed how families encountered the system, but these critiques stop short of producing a consolidated child‑deportation statistic in the sources provided [5] [6].
4. Where numbers do exist and what they tell — large removals, targeted priorities
Multiple analyses agree Obama oversaw very large numbers of removals at a scale unusual in recent presidencies, with reporting placing the total removals in the multi‑million range across his two terms — figures that fuel the “deporter‑in‑chief” label used by critics [1] [3] [4]. Migration Policy Institute and other analysts add nuance: the administration emphasized removals of recent arrivals and criminal‑justice referrals, and also expanded nonjudicial removals — structural changes that affected who was removed and how quickly [5] [6].
5. Why a single child count is elusive and what would be needed
The absence of a clear child‑deportation number in the supplied reporting stems from how DHS categories removals (border vs. interior, returns vs. removals), from changing counting practices over time, and from most public analyses focusing on aggregate removals rather than age‑specific breakdowns [2] [4]. To answer the question definitively would require age‑disaggregated DHS/ICE/CBP data or peer‑reviewed research that isolates minors removed during FY2009–2016 and distinguishes minors removed alone from those removed as part of family units — material not present in the provided sources [2] [5].
6. Competing narratives, implicit agendas and how to read them
Advocacy groups emphasize individual cases and systemic harms to press for reform and protections for children [9] [6], while some think‑tanks and commentators stress differences in counting methodology or defend the administration’s focus on criminal removals [7] [5]. Media and fact‑checkers confirm large aggregate removal totals but repeatedly caution that headline “most deportations” claims can obscure methodological shifts that affect comparability across administrations [2] [4]. The reporting compiled here reliably shows there were many removals under Obama, but it does not — in the pieces provided — give a verified numeric answer to “how many kids” were deported.