A former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says the agency doesn't have the manpower to deport every undocumented immigrant in the country even if it wanted to do so.

John Sandweg, who served as ICE's acting director during the Obama administration, said the high watermark for deportations is 2 percent given its resources.

“On the immigration side, ICE can only deport 2 percent of the undocumented population — I don’t think that’s a fact must people realize,” Sandweg told Hill.TV co-hosts Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.“

Even in 2012, the year ICE deported the largest number of people, it only handled 200,000 deportations. The total number of undocumented workers is around 11.5 million people.

“This administration is no different, Sandweg told Hill.TV. “They’re having the same problems – it’s just there's not enough resources in the immigration enforcement system.”

About 400,000 people in total were deported in 2012, he said, but 200,000 of those came directly at the border.

The former ICE chief said the agency often gets “torn apart in the politics,” which makes it difficult for agents to do their job.

He was critical of local communities that decide not to cooperate with ICE.

“The mayors tell the chiefs, 'you can't cooperate with ICE – it’s politically too hot for us,' and that undermines all of our public safety and national security,” he said.



Sandweg is the founding partner of Frontier Solutions. The firm provides "government affairs and communications expertise, specializing in homeland security and immigration."

— Tess Bonn