It “appears” the Biden administration is deporting nearly seven times fewer illegal migrants than the Obama administration did a decade ago, a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official recently said under oath as part of a deposition by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office.
Executive Associate Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Corey Allen Price made the statement in early September as part of Moody’s lawsuit alleging the Biden administration is releasing illegal migrants without any intention of removing them. Price testified that it “appears correct” ICE is removing almost seven times fewer illegal migrants under President Joe Biden’s leadership than 2012, according to the video. (RELATED: Biden-Appointed Border Patrol Chief Admits There’s A ‘Crisis’ At The Southern Border)
“Our deposition provides even more proof that the Biden administration is intentionally underenforcing federal immigration law in a way that has never been seen,” Moody said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “At every phase of the process, Biden is purposely failing to enforce the law and detain and remove inadmissible immigrants.”
Florida Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard asked Price about the trend, when he admitted to an apparent decrease.
“Director, ICE currently is removing less aliens from the United States than it has in the last decade, right?” Guard asked.
“I do not have the last ten years’ data available. But it is less than at least the last four years that I have here,” Price responded.
Guard then asked about the comparison between the Biden’s administration deportation actions and the Obama administration’s removals.
“In 2012, a decade ago, under President Obama, ICE removed almost seven times the number of aliens than the Biden administration did in either 2021 or 2022, right?” Guard asked.
In 2012, ICE deported 409,849 illegal migrants compared to 59,011 removed in 2021.
“That appears correct,” Price answered.
WATCH:
On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, his administration issued a 100-day pause on deportations. The moratorium order also directed ICE officials to prioritize arrests of those that pose threats to national security, public safety and border security.
A federal judge lifted the enforcement limits in June, according to CBS News.
“Due to limited resources, DHS cannot respond to all immigration violations or remove all persons unlawfully in the United States. Rather, DHS must implement civil immigration enforcement based on sensible priorities and changing circumstances,” a memo on the order stated.
There have been over 2,000,000 migrants encountered at the southern border in fiscal year 2022, around 1,000,000 of which have been expelled under Title 42, the pandemic public health order, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The Biden administration attempted to end Title 42, but the policy remains in place due to a court order.
ICE didn’t respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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