Get PolitiFact in your inbox.

stated on October 19, 2016 in the third presidential debate:

"Nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it, but under Obama, millions of people have been moved out of this country, they've been deported."

Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Oct. 19, 2016. (Josh Haner/The New York Times)

By Miriam Valverde October 21, 2016

Trump right on Obama's deportation numbers, wrong about nobody talking about it

At the last presidential debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tried to make a case on why their own immigration plans are the best for the nation.

Trump, the Republican nominee, touted his vision of a wall along the southern border and plans to get undocumented criminal immigrants out of the country. He also brought attention to President Barack Obama’s deportation record.

"President Obama has moved millions of people out. Nobody knows about it. Nobody talks about it. But under Obama, millions of people have been moved out of this country. They've been deported," Trump said.

Deportations and what to do with millions of people in the country illegally are highly controversial topics. Trump himself has not stuck to one approach about it.

There’s no doubt many people have been deported under Obama’s presidency --- but we were curious about Trump’s claim of "millions" and on lack of information about it, "nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it."

Here’s what’s known about deportation numbers.

The Department of Homeland Security issues yearly statistics on enforcement actions. The latest available is for fiscal year 2014, which is Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014.

From fiscal years 2009 to 2014, there have been more than 2.4 million removals, according to DHS data. Fiscal year 2009 includes data for a few months in which Obama was not in office.

Still, if we add just the full fiscal years in which he has been office, and for which data is available (2010-2014), there have been over 2 million removals. That corroborates Trump’s claim that "under Obama, millions of people have been moved out of this country."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also issues removal data. But its removal totals equals the sum of two actions: "removals" and "returns."

Removals account for people moved out of the country based on a formal order from a judge. Returns track people who were encountered by ICE, but who chose to depart the United States prior to a resolution of their immigration case.

Even then, ICE data shows that more than 2 million people have been moved out of the country while Obama has been in office, supporting part of Trump’s claim.

‘Nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it’

In the debate, however, Trump also claimed these millions of deportations have not been spoken about.

"Nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it," Trump said.

Andrew Tate

stated on March 26, 2024 in an X post

The ship that struck a Baltimore bridge “was cyber-attacked.”

But there is extensive reporting that shows otherwise. For years, news outlets have reported on Obama’s deportation numbers.

Some examples:

2010: The Washington Post reported that "the Obama administration is deporting record numbers of illegal immigrants."

2012: NPR reported that the Obama administration "deported a record 1.5 million" in his first term.

2014: An analysis by The New York Times found that since Obama became president, "two-thirds of the nearly two million deportation cases involve people who had committed minor infractions, including traffic violations, or had no criminal record at all."

2016: The New York Times reported in June that Obama "has carried out many more deportations than previous presidents, setting a record of more than 2.4 million formal removals."

Even immigration advocates have called out Obama for his deportation record, challenging his campaign promise to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Obama was dubbed the "Deporter-in-Chief" in 2014 by Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza, an immigrant advocacy group.

"For the president, I think his legacy is at stake here," Murguía told Politico in March 2014. "We consider him the deportation president, or the deporter-in-chief."

We pointed out the Politico article to Trump’s campaign and a spokesperson said, "That was published over two years ago." But Trump’s claim at the debate did not specify that deportations under Obama are not currently being talked about -- which would still be an inaccurate statement.

Obama addressed the "Deporter-In-Chief" moniker in a 2014 interview with Jorge Ramos, a Fusion and Univision anchor. Ramos told him 2 million deportations under his presidency had destroyed families and that he was called "Deporter-in-Chief." Obama said it was "not true" when Ramos said he could’ve stopped deportations.

"There certainly has been a lot of folks who have focused on Obama’s deportation record," said William Stock, an immigration lawyer and president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "No one can argue that not only have there been hundreds of thousands of removals each year, but there have also been a lot of people talking about those removals."

The number of deportations under Obama have been raised by the press, advocacy groups and even at congressional hearings with Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a Trump adviser, Stock said.

Our ruling

Trump said "Nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it, but under Obama, millions of people have been moved out of this country, they've been deported."

More than 2.4 million people have been deported under Obama’s presidency. But Trump’s claim that "nobody knows about it, nobody talks about it," is completely wrong. Not only is federal data issued about it on a yearly basis, there has also been extensive media coverage about it. Immigration advocates have called out the president for it and congressional hearings on deportations have also taken place.

Trump’s claim is partly right. We rate it Half True.

Share the Facts