Illegal immigration activists love to try to portray Barack Obama as the “deporter in chief,” because they want him to grant amnesty to even more illegals than he already has. But is he actually doing much to deport illegals? Nope. According to government data, Obama’s latest program to work with state and local law enforcement on deportation has resulted in — drumroll please — a decrease in detainer requests. That means Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) is not asking as often for state and local jails to hold illegals so ICE can take them into custody for deportation. In FY2015, there were 95,085 retainer requests, but that was 41% lower than FY2014, when there were 159,210 requests. If that decline meant that there were fewer illegals to deport, that would be one thing. But there are reports of a surge in illegal crossings this summer, no doubt as word spreads of Obama’s amnesty and Hillary Clinton’s significant polling lead in the presidential race.

Speaking of which, immigration is one of the principal reasons for the rise of Donald Trump. So let’s check in with his plan for a “deportation force” to remove the estimated 11 million illegals from the country. Does he still plan such a force? “To be determined,” answered his new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Sen. Jeff Sessions, a key Trump surrogate, also said Trump “did not make a firm commitment” recently on the subject. Mike Pence was left with his usual role of clarifying, and he insisted, “I don’t think the message is changing at all.” Perhaps we’ll find out from Trump himself when the candidate makes his immigration speech on Thursday. In any case, illegal immigration continues to be a topic many voters are watching carefully.