Why the complaints about deportations now?

Deportation or “removal” of non-citizens seem to be very unpopular among many. An “Order of Removal” is a legally binding decision by an immigration judge requiring a non-citizen to leave the U.S.

According to the Pew Research Center, by 2023 there were 14 million undocumented individuals in the U.S. During the eight-year Obama administration (2009-2017) there were 5,246,431 “removals” of non-citizens. The most of any presidency. During Trump’s first term (2017-2021) there were 2,001,290 “removals.” During Biden’s administration (2021-2025) there were 4,677,540 “removals.” Of those 4.6 million, 2,754,120 were refused entry to the U.S. during COVID under Title 42. (7.2 million non-citizens entered the country between 2021 and 2025 plus an estimated 1.6 million “gotaways”.) All of this information can be verified using several fact-checking or DHS websites.

That is a total of 11,925,261 undocumented people “removed” from the U.S. between 2009 and 2025. I do not recall people protesting in the streets during this 16-year time span.

Lee Hunt

Elgin