Team Obama's Magic Act -- Rise of Deportations Hides Drop in Immigration Enforcement

myfoxphilly.com
by Bob Dane
Thursday, 27 Oct 2011, 10:11 AM EDT

Choreographing any magic trick involves two fundamentals; simulation to create the illusion that something has happened that really hasn’t, and misdirection to divert attention away from the sleight of hand.

The famous magician Harry Houdini would be proud of President Obama’s efforts to fool Americans into believing that immigration enforcement has increased. His trick is getting the public to focus on the total number of deportations while he hides the details of what those total numbers really reveal.

Mr. Obama claims that his nearly 400,000 annual deportations of illegal aliens are higher than yearly deportations under President Bush. The claim is true – sort of, but so what? The previous president never adequately addressed the escalating cost and impact of illegal immigration so using his deportation numbers as a benchmark sets the bar very low. Besides, at the present rate of deportations, it will take 32 years to remove the 13 million illegal aliens already residing here - not to mention a few more on their way. The president hardly deserves a gold star for simply doing the minimum.

The 400,000 is nothing to marvel at but it’s even less impressive when it becomes apparent who is really being deported, who is not, and why.

The true sleight of hand lies in the fact that while deportations of illegal aliens who have committed violent felonies is up, deportations of illegal aliens who have “onlyâ€