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Within days, the
Obama administration is expected to reach a milestone that has brought fear and
anger to immigrant communities: A record 2 million removals since taking
office. At the same time, the administration gets unyielding criticism and
charges of failure to enforce immigration law from enforcement-minded
congressional leaders for its actions to shield from deportation hundreds of
thousands of unauthorized immigrant youth and others.
How are these
two seemingly contradictory realities possible?
The answer is
that the U.S. immigration enforcement system has been transformed over the last
two decades, leading to vastly greater enforcement capacity and—under President
Obama—more focused targeting of enforcement efforts. As documented by the
Migration Policy Institute in past and forthcoming research, three developments
have been particularly important in bringing about a formidable new immigration
enforcement machinery.
