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Deportations down 20 percent, fewest since 2007

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine agent looks for signs along trail while on patrol near the Texas-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. President Barack Obama, who has postponed until after Election Day his plan for executive actions that could shield millions of immigrants from deportation, is already on pace this year to deport the fewest number of immigrants since at least 2007, according to a new analysis of Homeland Security Department figures by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine agent looks for signs along trail while on patrol near the Texas-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. President Barack Obama, who has postponed until after Election Day his plan for executive actions that could shield millions of immigrants from deportation, is already on pace this year to deport the fewest number of immigrants since at least 2007, according to a new analysis of Homeland Security Department figures by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine agent looks for signs along trail while on patrol near the Texas-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. President Barack Obama, who has postponed until after Election Day his plan for executive actions that could shield millions of immigrants from deportation, is already on pace this year to deport the fewest number of immigrants since at least 2007, according to a new analysis of Homeland Security Department figures by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama has quietly slowed deportations while delaying plans to act on his own potentially to shield millions of immigrants from expulsion.

The Associated Press analyzed figures from the Homeland Security Department and found the agency is on pace to remove the fewest number of immigrants since 2007.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for deportations, sent home 258,608 immigrants between the start of the budget year last October and July 28. That’s a decrease of nearly 20 percent from the same period a year earlier, when it removed 320,167 people.

Obama announced plans earlier this year to act on his own to slow deportations but now has postponed any changes until after November’s elections. The delay is an effort to shield vulnerable Democrats from political repercussions.