Fact check: What immigration policies led to higher deportation rates under Obama?

1. Summary of the results

Under the Obama administration, several key policies drove higher deportation rates:

• Implementation of expedited removals that bypassed immigration courts, with 75-83% of deportations being nonjudicial ^[1]
• Prioritization of criminals and recent border crossers for deportation ^[1]
• These policies resulted in approximately 3.2 million formal deportations and 5.24 million total removals and voluntary returns between 2009-2016 ^[1]
• In 2013 alone, 438,421 people were deported ^[1]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual elements are missing from the original question:

• The term "deporter-in-chief" was coined by critics like the ACLU, who argued these policies separated families and violated immigrants' rights ^[1]
• Obama's deportation numbers cannot be directly compared to previous administrations due to changes in legal authority and deportation procedures ^[2]
• Contrary to some popular beliefs, Obama did not deport more people than all previous presidents combined - his 3.1 million removal orders were actually less than the 4.6 million issued before his presidency ^[2]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The question itself contains potential bias by focusing solely on policies that led to "higher" deportation rates, which might suggest:

• An assumption that Obama's deportation rates were unprecedented, which the data shows is not accurate ^[2]
• The question overlooks the complex legal and procedural changes that make direct historical comparisons difficult ^[2]
• It doesn't acknowledge that the high deportation numbers were partially due to changes in how deportations were classified and processed, rather than just policy changes ^[2]

Those benefiting from various interpretations of this data include:

• Immigration reform advocates who use higher numbers to criticize harsh enforcement
• Conservative politicians who cite these numbers to show Democratic presidents' tough stance on immigration
• Progressive politicians who use the context to argue for more humane immigration policies