U.S. sharply cutting deportations

WASHINGTON - President Obama is on pace this year to deport the fewest number of immigrants since at least 2007, even as he has postponed until after Election Day his promised unilateral action that could shield millions more from deportation.

According to an analysis of Homeland Security Department figures by the Associated Press, the federal agency responsible for deportations sent home 258,608 immigrants between the start of the budget year last October and July 28 this year. During the same period a year earlier, it removed 320,167 people.

Over the same period ending in July 2012, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 344,624 people, according to the federal figures obtained by the AP.

The figures, contained in weekly internal reports marked "Official Use Only," reflect the marked decline in deportations even as Obama has delayed announcing what changes he will make to U.S. immigration policies. Immigration advocates widely expect Obama to reduce the number of people who are deported, and that's a particularly sensitive issue in many states, leading to his postponement of any action until after the November elections.

Obama sent his chief of staff to the Capitol on Thursday to reassure Latino lawmakers that he still plans to act this year. Lawmakers say that some vented their anger during the meeting with Denis McDonough, who heard them out and pledged action. Since Obama took office, his administration has removed more than 2.1 million immigrants.

There are two principal reasons why fewer immigrants are being deported:

The Obama administration decided as early as summer 2011 to focus its deportation efforts on criminal immigrants or those who posed a threat to national security or public safety. Many others who crossed into the U.S. illegally and could be subject to deportation are stuck in a federal immigration court system.

As Border Patrol agents detain more people from countries in Central America, the volume and circumstances of the cases take more time for overwhelmed immigration officials and courts to process because, among other reasons, the U.S. must fly such migrants home rather than letting them walk across the border to Mexico.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said the agency has not released removal numbers for this budget year and officials are "still assessing a number of factors that inform ICE's ability to remove individuals."