Deportations Before Reform: Anatomy of an Immigration Bust
As lawmakers continued to debate immigration reform in 2010, the Obama administration pushed for a path to citizenship.
Best News Feature2011 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition2011 / Marianne McCune / WNYC Radio, USA

As lawmakers continued to debate immigration reform in 2010, the Obama administration pushed for a path to citizenship.
But the Administration also deported more immigrants than ever – around 400,000 a year. Authorities said they're targeting those who've committed serious crimes. But more than half of those arrested didn't have convictions. And among those who did, many of the crimes were minor.
For the couple in Marianne McCune's 2010 news story, immigration reform could change everything, but only if it comes very soon.
Deportations Before Reform: Anatomy of an Immigration Bust won the Best News Feature Award in the 2011 Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition. It was reported and produced by Marianne McCune and edited by Karen Frillmann in 2010, for WNYC Radio.
produced by

Marianne McCune (@mariannemccune) is currently an audio reporter at WNYC on the United States of Anxiety podcast.
Featured in
May we recommend…
-
-
John Thompson vs. American Justice
2018 / 49:14
When police showed up to question John Thompson, he was worried that he had sold drugs to an undercover cop.
-
Basket of Deportables
2017 / 09:48
On January 27, 2017, Donald Trump's executive order closed U.S. borders to citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations. Some of the people locked out were already on their way... mid-flight.