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what is deportation, And why does it effect me?
Author ClaycoRyanSince the nation’s beginning, power in America has been fought over land—who controls it, who is pushed off it, and who profits from it. The ideology of Manifest Destiny normalized settler expansion and displacement, an early template for what we now call gentrification. Fast-forward to today: national franchises blanket the country while mom-and-pop shops fade; manufacturing has hollowed out; skilled trades are devalued; and the rise of AI threatens to deskill even more work. These forces matter because they reshape neighborhoods, concentrate ownership, and render long-standing communities expendable. We’ve seen this pattern before. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by Andrew Jackson, enabled mass dispossession and led to the Trail of Tears for the Cherokee and other nations. In the generations since—from the destruction of Black prosperity in Tulsa’s Greenwood District to displacement across the Midwest—the descendants of Native, Black, and Brown peoples have repeatedly borne the costs of policies that privilege expansion and “growth” over rooted communities. Today’s immigration and development debates sit on that same continuum: Who belongs, who benefits, and who gets moved when the map is redrawn?
Obama didn’t invent U.S. immigration policy—he inherited a post-9/11 system built to heighten border and homeland security. Where George W. Bush’s era was defined by counter-terrorism and the new DHS architecture, Obama’s focus shifted to the southern border and interior enforcement. He took heat from both sides: critics said he was too tough, supporters said his priorities were narrower. In 2014 he scrapped Secure Communities and launched the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) to target people who posed public-safety threats; alongside that he created DACA (and unsuccessfully proposed DAPA). The result was very high removal totals early, followed by declines as priorities narrowed. DHS removals by fiscal year: 2009: 379,739; 2010: 382,449; 2011: 390,413; 2012: 415,579; 2013: 432,201; 2014: 405,026; 2015: 324,303; 2016: 332,263.;
Why “more in, fewer out” under Biden (compared with Obama)
1) The metric changed in the pandemic era. From March 2020–May 2023, many border crossers were expelled under Title 42 public-health authority, which does not count as a “removal.” That pushed Biden’s early removal totals down on paper even while large numbers were being turned around at the border. Title 42 ended May 11, 2023. American Immigration Council U.S. Customs and Border Protection
2) Biden restored “threats-first” priorities. Like Obama, DHS under Biden told officers to focus on national security, public safety, and recent border crossers, using case-by-case discretion. States sued, but the Supreme Court let DHS keep those priorities (United States v. Texas, 2023). Fewer interior removals follow when you narrow targets. U.S. Department of Homeland Security supremecourt.gov
3) Record migration + court backlogs. Western Hemisphere migration hit historic highs, creating unprecedented border encounters and swelling the immigration-court backlog past 3 million—which slows final orders and removals. U.S. Customs and Border Protection +1 tracreports.org
4) Policy mix: close some doors, open some “lawful pathways.” Biden ended MPP (“Remain in Mexico”), used the CBP One appointment system, and created limited parole channels (e.g., for Cubans/Haitians/Nicaraguans/Venezuelans) to steer people to ports of entry, while also tightening asylum with the 2023 “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule. That combination changed how people entered and were processed. American Immigration Council U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Register
5) Practical removal constraints. You can’t remove people to countries that won’t take flights or lack agreements. The U.S. had limited removals to Venezuela and Cuba for years; flights resumed in 2023, which is partly why Biden’s removals rose later. Detention bed space and flight capacity also cap how many people can be removed at once. By RCraig09 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Trumps Maximum Enforcemant
Widen who can be fast-tracked out.
Trump’s team expanded expedited removal nationwide (for people who can’t prove 2 years’ continuous presence), eliminating the need for an immigration judge in many cases. First signaled by DHS in 2017 and formalized in July 2019; re-expanded again in Jan. 2025. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Register GovInfo
Supercharge local police partnerships
(287(g)). ICE grew agreements deputizing local officers to perform immigration functions; Secure Communities fingerprint sharing also resumed. (ICE now lists hundreds of active 287(g) MOAs nationwide.) ICE +1
Prosecute border crossers (“zero tolerance”)
DOJ directed U.S. Attorneys in April 2018 to prosecute all illegal entry cases (8 U.S.C. §1325), which drove family separations until EO 13841 shifted course two months later; the DOJ Inspector General later found the rollout wasn’t properly planned. justice.gov Federal Register oig.justice.gov Push people to wait outside the U.S. or seek asylum elsewhere. DHS created Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP/“Remain in Mexico”) in Jan. 2019 and issued the 2019 “transit ban” limiting asylum for people who didn’t first seek protection in transit countries; the U.S. also signed Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. These faced heavy litigation. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Register +1
Lean on public-health expulsions late in term.
Starting March 2020, CDC Title 42 orders let border agents expel people quickly without normal asylum processing. (These expulsions don’t count as Title 8 “removals.”) Federal Register
Tighten interior levers.
USCIS’s 2018 NTA memo broadened when benefits cases get referred to court; ICE/HSI also spiked worksite enforcement (I-9 audits and raids) in FY2018–FY2019. USCIS ICE
What changed on the ground (results & mechanics)
- Arrests jumped early.
- Worksite pressure surged.
- Court fights shaped the edges.
- Why removals didn’t eclipse Obama’s peak: despite tougher posture, late-term Title 42 expulsions shifted huge volumes outside the “removals” metric and pandemic logistics slowed flights/custody—so the counted removals didn’t skyrocket. Federal Register
So! How does this effect me?
Chicago’s flashpoints aren’t only about migrants; they’re about sequence and trust. The city’s Black population has declined for decades, and many neighborhoods waited years for basic investment—then watched shelters open quickly for new arrivals. At the same time, recent data show violent crime trending down, complicating the bumper-sticker claim that “Dem city = crime spike.” The influx is real, the costs are real, and so are the grievances. Some of the pacing is set by federal rules—like the 150/180-day wait before many asylum seekers can work—and by a court system working through historic backlogs. So yes, it affects you: budgets shift, hiring patterns change, and local coalitions re-sort. The path forward has to be both/and: accelerate investment in long-neglected Black neighborhoods and manage newcomer services with transparency, community input, and clear guardrails. Step back and the pattern is familiar. For centuries, decisions about land, movement, and opportunity have often been made above people’s heads—from removal and redlining to urban renewal and modern zoning. Presidents set tone, but laws, agencies, courts, and city halls shape outcomes day to day. Rather than reduce the story to which president “cares” more, judge policies by whether they widen belonging, protect due process and public safety, and share opportunity. Remember why things are the way they are—and choose, together, how they should be.
SOURCES
Immigration numbers (removals/returns) DHS Yearbook (historical removals/returns through 2019): Table 39 with FY2009–2019 totals. Office of Homeland Security Statistics ICE FY2024 Annual Report (271,484 removals). ICE ICE ERO statistics dashboards (arrests, detentions, removals). ICE Core policies (Obama → Trump → Biden) DACA (2012 Napolitano memo). U.S. Department of Homeland Security PEP replaces Secure Communities (2014 Johnson memo). U.S. Department of Homeland Security EO 13768 (Jan. 2017) – “employ all lawful means.” Federal Register text. Federal Register DHS implementation memo (Kelly) – terminates PEP, restores Secure Communities. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Zero-tolerance prosecutions (Sessions memo & DOJ release, Apr. 2018). Department of Justice +1 DOJ Inspector General review of zero-tolerance/family separations. Office of the Inspector General Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) announcement (2019). U.S. Department of Homeland Security Biden enforcement-priority guidance (Mayorkas, Sept. 30, 2021). ICE SCOTUS, United States v. Texas (2023) – states lacked standing to block Biden priorities. Supreme Court Title 42 / definitions & processing Asylum EAD “clock” (150 days to apply; 180 to be eligible) – USCIS notice + regulation. USCIS eCFR Chicago: migrants, crime trend, demographics, community response City of Chicago “New Arrivals” dashboard (live counts; ~51k+ since Aug. 2022). Chicago CPD data/CompStat portals (crime dashboards). Chicago Police Department +1 FBI national 2024 crime statistics (violent crime down). Federal Bureau of Investigation Latino–Black population shift (2020 Census analysis). WBEZ The Chicago Reporter South Shore/Woodlawn shelter debates (local reporting). Block Club Chicago +1 D.C. National Guard & Jan. 6 (for the governance/“who can call whom” angle) D.C. Code §49-409 — President is Commander-in-Chief of the D.C. militia/Guard. D.C. Law Library Executive Order 11485 (1969) — supervision/control of the D.C. National Guard delegated via Sec. of the Army. Federal Register Archives DoD IG review of DoD’s actions on Jan. 6 (timeline & findings). DODIG Capitol Police Emergency Assistance Act of 2021 — USCP Chief can request DCNG directly in emergencies (text of the law). Co