President Barack Obama told Americans in a 2014 national address that his administration would focus deportation efforts on “actual threats to our security. Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mother who’s working hard to provide for her kids. … If you’re a criminal, you’ll be deported.” A White House fact sheet issued that same day reinforced that message, saying enforcement would prioritize “people who threaten national security and public safety.”
Seven years later, the Biden administration would issue similar guidance. Immigration enforcement priorities would focus on “noncitizens who are a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security.” The administration also made clear that simply being in the country illegally “should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”
