Will Trump become the “Deporter-in-chief?

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Democrat Barack Obama, with whom many Latinos were initially delighted, holds the record as the biggest deporter in recent history.

Immigrants are afraid. Immigrant families are afraid. Not only in the United States, but around the world. President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to carry out the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants, and his tone is both threatening and arrogant.

To execute his plan, he appointed Thomas Homan to lead this initiative. Homan oversaw Trump’s controversial family separation policy as acting ICE director. He has stated that enforcement will be “the same as during the first administration,” but Americans can expect “a hell of a lot more” deportations this time.

When Homan was questioned about the consequences of separating families, he declared: “It doesn’t have to be like this. We can deport entire families.”

This is not a policy; it is a declaration of war.

But let’s ask: has Trump been the biggest deporter in U.S. history?

The answer is no. Democrat Barack Obama, with whom many Latinos were initially delighted, holds the record as the biggest deporter in recent history.

Here are the numbers:

Under Trump, from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020, the Department of Homeland Security recorded 2 million deportations, a combination of removals and returns. (Fiscal year 2017 included about four months of the Obama administration.)

During Obama’s first term, from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2012, there were 3.2 million deportations (removals and returns). Fiscal year 2009 also included about four months of George W. Bush’s second term. During Obama’s second term, from fiscal years 2013 to 2016, there were 2.1 million deportations.

These figures—both for Obama and Trump—encompass deportations of people detained at the border and those already living in the U.S. who were picked up by immigration authorities.

Of course, these numbers do not guarantee that Trump’s second term will follow the same pattern. His threats may be just that—threats—or they could become a reality, with the number of deportations during his administration surpassing Obama’s.

New ‘border czar’ warns: ‘hell of a lot more’ deportations than first term