Rep. Lamar Smith Calls Deportation Record a ‘Trick’

House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) wrote an op-ed that calls the Obama Administration’s record number of deportations in 2011 a “trick”. Two weeks ago, the Administration said it deported a record number of illegal aliens last year, totaling almost 400,000 deportations, but Rep. Smith said the are “using smoke and mirrors to achieve its so-called historic record.”

One area that Rep. Smith challenges the Administration’s statistics is on voluntary removals. If an individual is stopped by Border Patrol agents and volunteers to turnaround and return to where they’re coming from, the Obama Administration counts that as a deportation. However, as Rep. Smith says, an individual can be stopped and turned around multiple times and counted multiple times instead of just once. Furthermore, since the individual voluntarily returned, they can return to the U.S. whereas an individual that’s deported faces penalties if they try to return to the U.S.

Rep. Smith also says that worksite enforcement is down 70% and the Administration has also began using deferred action and/or parole to grant an administrative amnesty to certain illegal aliens.

“Take away the hocus-pocus, and it is clear the Obama administration is neglecting to enforce immigration laws.”

To read Rep. Smith’s full op-ed, see Politico.com.