Obama Isn't Deporting 'Gangbanger' Immigrants, But Ones Who Run Red Lights
Despite President Obama's expressed commitment to deporting only "gang bangers" and criminals, an investigation by The New York Times found that two-thirds of undocumented immigrants who were deported had committed only minor crimes like traffic offenses. While Obama has suggested his administration is just going after bad guys — and anti-immigration conservatives like Steve King have claimed that for every undocumented good student there are 100 drug mules — the reality is that only 20 percent of the administration's 2 million deportees committed serious crimes.
The Times found that approximately 394,000 of the Obama administration's 2 million deportees committed serious crimes like drug offenses. Two-thirds of those individuals had committed minor infractions, including traffic violations — from driving under the influence to running a red or yellow light — or didn't have criminal records. Compared to the Bush administration, deportations following traffic violations has quadrupled under Obama. There has also been an increases in charges being filed against immigration violators.
RELATED: An Upper East Side Ex-Investment Banker Is Now Campaigning as an Elizabeth Warren Democrat
It's important to note that this report directly contradicts the talking points of the anti-immigration movement. In recent weeks conservative news sites have sounded the alarm on stories about "criminal aliens" being released into society. Breitbart and several other sites covered a report from the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies (which has a page devoted to "illegal immigrants") stating that Immigration officials had released 68,000 deportable individuals. One week earlier, Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions released a Critical Alert that claimed 98 percent of deported immigrants in 2013 had criminal records for violent crimes. At the same time, the Times report confirms activists claims that Obama's "smart" deportation strategy hasn't just been targeting, in the president's words, "criminals, gang bangers, people who are hurting the community."
And now calls from activists to slow the rate of deportations are reaching a fever pitch. This week the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will present its immigration demands to Homeland Security, according to Greg Sargent at The Washington Post. The report demands Obama use executive action to slow down the rate of deportation and, Sargent argues, that means the window for reform is closing fast. If Congress doesn't pass reform by its August recess, the Obama might act, which will kill any chance of Republican support for reform.
RELATED: George W. Bush's Paintings Were Modeled After Top Google Images
But reform has been on life support for a while now. While potential presidential hopeful Jeb Bush described illegal immigration as "an act of love" this weekend, reports have shown that the government's failure to pass reform has left many Latinos so disillusioned they don't want to vote. In that sense, this Times report is welcome news. Steve King will continue to posit his cantaloupe calves theory, but the president's party is the one that will lose votes.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/04/obama-isnt-deporting-gangbanger-immigrants-but-ones-who-run-red-lights/360255/
Read more from The Wire
• The Besieged Ukrainian City of Donetsk Had an Eerie Cameo on ‘The Americans’
