Thursday, November 1, 2012

What is Obama's record on Immigration?

One of the interesting memes that has been making the rounds is Obama's record on immigration.  Is he pro or anti immigration?  Here are some charts that might help.  They are sourced from the Department of Homeland Security's 2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics


  • 1.   Is overall allocation of Legal Permanent Residence Status under Obama higher or lower than average?



    Permanent Residence (PRs) approvals under Obama is actually the second highest in history.  The only President who has ever issued more PRs annually is actually Bush I.  Also, it's not exactly correct to say the GOP or Dems are better because if you ignore Bush I, there seems to be a steady upward trend with every President being better than the last.  
      


    2.   Is Obama worse for H1Bs?

    Well, actually, surprisingly no.  After a dip at the height of the recession, Obama has actually been averaging higher than Bush II.




    3.   How about non immigrant admissions in general?

    Again, under Obama, overall non immigrant admissions are at a record levels, suggesting visitors to the US are higher than under at any point under Bush II.




    4.   How about enforcement action?  Isn't Obama worse for enforcement action?

    Curiously, under Obama, enforcement action is down to levels not seen since the early 1970s, and overall, Obama is averaging less than Clinton.




    5.   So, why is Obama supposedly so tough on immigration?

    Well it seems the that the one area where Obama is stricter is deportations.  Under Obama, annual deportations are at a record high.



    As an aside, I realized that the one other issue is that under Obama the mix of H1Bs has shifted more to EB1 and EB2 and away from EB3.

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