In an effort “to make our national laws actually work” the Obama administration will deport a record number of undocumented immigrants this fiscal year. ICE expects to deport about 400,000 individuals this year, which is 10% more than the Bush administration total for 2008. Obama’s government is also auditing hundreds of businesses that have been routinely hiring undocumented workers. The pace of these audits has roughly quadrupled since Bush’s last year in office.

The director of ICE, John Morton, says that the expected 400,000 deportees is the maximum number that the overburdened processing, detention, and immigration court system can handle. President Obama is walking a political tightrope: he is criticized by those who say he is weak on border security as well as by those who say he isn’t keeping his campaign promise to assist the more than 11 million illegal residents.