How many immigrants were deported during the obama administrator
Executive summary
The Obama administration oversaw between roughly 2.7 million and 3.0 million formal “removals” or deportations during its two terms, but totals jump higher — into the multiple millions — if one counts returns, repatriations or other border turn‑backs; authoritative sources and analysts use different definitions, producing divergent counts [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and advocacy groups also emphasize that the makeup of those removed changed under Obama — a policy focus on recent border crossers and people with criminal records (including many with traffic offenses), which complicates simple comparisons with other presidencies [4] [5].
1. What the headline numbers say: roughly 2.7–3.0 million removals
A data compilation cited by Factchequeado calculates about 2,749,706 deportations (removals) across Obama’s eight years — an average near 942 removals per day — making his administration the highest in recent decades by that metric [1]. Other analyses and summaries of DHS yearbooks and historical tallies place Obama’s total removals around three million, a difference that reflects how researchers assign and aggregate fiscal‑year data [2] [3]. Government and press releases during the administration also highlighted record single‑year removal totals — for example, DHS trumpeted unprecedented removals and especially criminal removals for FY2010 [6].
2. Why counts vary: removals versus returns, and methodological choices
Part of the dispute over “how many” stems from definitional choices: DHS distinguishes removals (formal deportations) from returns or repatriations (individuals turned back at the border), and some public tallies combine both categories or count border turn‑backs as deportations, inflating totals compared with strict removal counts [2] [7]. News outlets and analysts have therefore produced different headlines — one count showing roughly 2.7 million removals, another citing higher figures when returns or repatriations are folded in, and still other summaries using fiscal‑year allocation rules that change which president a year’s numbers are credited to [7] [2].
3. The policy context behind the numbers
Scholars at the Migration Policy Institute and reporting from DHS make clear that Obama’s enforcement strategy evolved toward prioritizing recent border crossers and noncitizens with criminal records, and that expansions such as Secure Communities increased the flow of names from local jails to immigration authorities; that shift produced higher removal totals even as rhetoric emphasized targeted enforcement [4] [6]. Critics and advocates alike note that many classified as “criminal” deportees under Obama had relatively minor offenses — including traffic violations and immigration offenses — a pattern documented by TRAC, the New York Times reporting and summarized by the American Immigration Council [5].
4. What the critics and defenders say
Immigrant‑rights groups and the ACLU argued that the administration prioritized speed and quantity of removals over individualized due process, pointing to fast‑track procedures and a large share of cases proceeding through expedited channels [8]. Defenders and some policy analysts counter that the administration narrowed enforcement priorities compared with earlier eras and that higher removal numbers reflected tools like Secure Communities and a focus on public‑safety risks rather than indiscriminate mass expulsions [4] [6].
5. The bottom line and limits of available data
The best supported figure for formal deportations (removals) during the Obama presidency is in the high‑two‑million to roughly three‑million range (about 2.7 million by one detailed aggregation), while broader tallies that include returns or repatriations produce larger multi‑million totals; researchers caution that year‑by‑year allocation methods and changing DHS definitions make precise comparisons across presidencies difficult [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and watchdog studies also stress that the composition of those removed — who was classified as a “criminal,” how many were subjected to expedited processes, and whether border turn‑backs were included — matters as much as the raw totals when judging policy and political labels [5] [8].