How many criminals is ICE really deporting?

The Obama administration says it is deporting a record number of criminals. The truth, however, is more complicated — and the administration’s rhetoric may be influenced by the political tightrope it’s walking as it tries simultaneously to please Latinos and independent voters. ... The numbers ... appear to support the administration’s claim that it has shifted enforcement priorities from the pursuit of garden variety immigration violators — people who slip across the border or overstay a visa — to those who commit crimes once they arrive in the U.S. But a closer look suggests that the administration is using an expansive definition of criminal, one that includes tens of thousands of petty offenders." - Orange County Register, Dec. 20, 2011.