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Fact check: Did people protest Obama's deportations
1. Summary of the results
Yes, there were significant protests against Obama's deportation policies. Immigration activists labeled him the "deporter in chief" and organized large-scale demonstrations across multiple cities [1] [2]. These protests included a national "day of action" across 10 major U.S. cities including Atlanta, New York, Houston, and San Francisco [3]. Organizations like DREAMers and United We Dream were particularly active in organizing these protests [4].
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
Several important contextual elements are missing from the original question:
- Scale of Deportations: While Obama faced significant criticism, he did not deport the most people in U.S. history - the Bush administration removed over 5.3 million people, more than Obama's numbers [5]
- Nature of Deportations: About 75-83% of deportations under Obama were nonjudicial, which was a specific point of criticism from activists [6]
- Policy Impact: The protests eventually led to executive actions by Obama, suggesting they were effective in achieving some policy changes [4]
- Complexity of Numbers: The deportation statistics are more nuanced than often presented - Obama issued 3.1 million removal orders from 2009-2016, which was actually less than the 4.6 million issued before his presidency [7]
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The simple yes/no nature of the question obscures several important aspects:
- Protest Evolution: The protests weren't static but evolved over time, including specific campaigns like the week of protests marking Obama's executive actions [8]
- Specific Demands: Protesters weren't just opposing deportations in general, but had specific demands such as:
- Stopping deportations of immigrants with close family ties and no criminal history [1]
- Ending the Secure Communities program [3]
- Creating more lenient enforcement policies [8]
- Political Impact: The protests had significant political consequences, particularly affecting Obama's standing with Latino voters during his 2012 reelection bid [2]