A record 392,862 illegal aliens were deported from the United States in 2010 but an investigative journalism organization questions how the number was reached.
The Center for Investigative Reporting says the Obama administration achieved its goal by instructing the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to bypass time-consuming deportation hearings whenever possible.
It also said ICE used other methods to pad the numbers and that it included more than 19,000 immigrants who had left the previous year.
The CIR said without using a variety of uncommon methods to boost the numbers ICE wouldn't have topped last year's record of 389,834.
The 2010 fiscal year ended Sept. 30 and the methods ICE used in deporting illegal aliens broke no laws, officials said.
"It's not unusual for any administration to get the numbers they need by reaching into their bag of tricks to boost figures," said Neil Clark, a
retired former Seattle field office director.
Clark worked for ICE during the Bush and Clinton administrations and he said both used similar methods.
ICE didn't make any officials available for interviews, the CIR said, but defended its practices through e-mails.
"ICE offered eligible aliens ... the opportunity to accept voluntary return," said ICE spokesman Brian P. Hale. "The decision to accept VR [voluntary return] was the aliens'."