Fact check: How many non-criminal deportations occurred under the Obama administration?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available analyses, no source provides a specific total number of non-criminal deportations under the Obama administration. However, several key statistics emerge from the data:

The Obama administration conducted over 2.5 million deportations through immigration orders between 2009 and 2015 ^[1]. In 2013 alone, the administration deported a record-breaking 438,421 people, including about 198,400 immigrants with criminal records ^[2]. This suggests that approximately 240,021 non-criminal deportations occurred in 2013.

More recent data shows a shift in priorities: in 2016, 90 percent of interior removals were of noncitizens convicted of serious crimes ^[3], implying that 10 percent were non-criminal deportations. Similarly, in fiscal year 2015, 91 percent of people removed from inside the U.S. were previously convicted of a crime ^[1], suggesting 9 percent were non-criminal deportations.

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks crucial context about the evolution of Obama's deportation policies over time. The data reveals that the Obama administration shifted its enforcement priorities significantly during its tenure ^[3]. Early in the administration, in fiscal year 2010, ICE set a record for overall removals with more than 392,000 removals nationwide, with half of those removed being convicted criminals ^[4], meaning approximately 196,000 were non-criminal deportations in that single year.

Immigration advocacy groups would benefit from emphasizing the high numbers of non-criminal deportations to criticize the administration's policies, while supporters of stricter immigration enforcement would benefit from highlighting the administration's focus on criminal deportations in later years.

The analyses also reveal that there were fewer removals and returns under the Obama administration than each of the two prior administrations ^[3], providing important comparative context missing from the original question.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself is not inherently biased, but it seeks a specific statistic that appears to be unavailable in comprehensive form. The question could be misleading if used to suggest that a precise count of non-criminal deportations exists when the available data only provides partial breakdowns by year and category.

The framing could also be problematic because it doesn't acknowledge the significant policy shifts within the Obama administration that changed the ratio of criminal to non-criminal deportations over time ^{[3] [1]}. Any answer that provides a single number without this temporal context would be misleading.