[American Liberty] It is sometimes said that numbers do not lie. But as any philosopher or bureaucrat will tell you, numbers can be made to say anything, depending on the definitions employed. This is particularly true of immigration statistics. Over the past three administrations, the definition of a "deportation" has shifted so dramatically that comparisons across presidents are not merely misleading, they are meaningless without context. The claim, often parroted in progressive media circles, that Presidents Obama or Biden deported more illegal aliens than Donald Trump is a textbook case of definitional manipulation. Once we unravel the terminology and consider what was actually done to whom, the truth emerges with disarming clarity: Trump has deported more illegal aliens than any prior president, not because he cooked the books, but because he enforced the law. And now, in his second term, he is doing it faster and more effectively than ever before.
Let us begin by isolating the concept. What is a deportation? In the immigration code, a deportation refers to the formal removal of an individual who has no lawful basis to remain in the United States. The process often culminates with an order of removal from an immigration judge, or in many cases, with an expedited removal issued by a Department of Homeland Security officer. But over time, a definitional sleight of hand has occurred, transforming administrative jargon into political theater.
During the Obama administration, a large share of what were formerly known as "returns," informal turnarounds at the border without a legal order, were reclassified as "removals." This maneuver allowed the administration to inflate deportation statistics by including quick expulsions of individuals who were caught attempting to cross the border and turned back to Mexico. These individuals barely got their feet wet and never saw the inside of a courtroom, much less a formal order of removal. Nevertheless, under Obama’s revised accounting, they were labeled deportees. Additionally, there is evidence that border agents inflated the number of turnarounds since there was no way to refute the numbers. Thus the moniker "deporter-in-chief" was a function of statistical rebranding rather than any rigorous application of immigration law. 
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