DEPORTATION KING

While President Obama works to try to get immigration reform, he has become the deportation king.  Deportations were down about 10% in FY 2013 to 368,644,* perhaps because the President announced in June that he would defer deportations of children who were brought to this country illegally by their parents.  Home Land security says the number of these children exceeds 400,000.   It is reported that 82% of the deportations are of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a crime. Nearly 2 million people have been deported during the first 5 years of the Obama presidency, some for the second or even third time.  There has been a steady increase in deportations since at least 1999 when there were 175,000 deportations.*

The Senate has passed an immigration reform bill that speaker Boehner refuses to bring to a vote in the House of Representatives even though the bill (S 744) passed the Senate with 68 votes** and has said there is no way he will go to a conference committee on the Senate bill.  Among the sticking points is a path to citizenship taking 13 yrs, securing our southern border, paying back taxes, and learning English.

I feel that the path to citizenship is so draconian that few will take the opportunity to do it.  I have at least favored "Build the Danged Fence"*** as a public works program though completing the double fence may not decrease illegal immigration much.  As I say in my piece: "If I was dictator, this wouldn't be my first choice as a public works program as it may not be much better than hiring one shift to dig holes and the next shift to fill them in.  But the fence is acceptable to the opponents of the Gang Of Eight proposal that passed the Senate whereas digging holes or, better yet,  improving highways or the smart grid isn't."


* http://webmailb.juno.com/webmail/new/5?userinfo=8b254f2f4f26b1dc56d8fe41da329a7b&count=1387637225&randid=1988503624
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/12/19/obama-administration-deportations-of-undocumented-immigrants-drops-in-2013/
http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-u-s-deportations/

** http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/guide-s744-understanding-2013-senate-immigration-bill
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/senate-immigration-reform-bill_n_3511664.html

***http://stopcontinentaldrift.blogspot.com/2013/07/complete-danged-fence.html