What a difference a presidency makes.

Under the Obama administration, it was common practice to not only ignore immigration law but to endanger American citizens by releasing criminal illegal aliens back onto the street instead of deporting them. Taking a look at the available data, it is clear President Trump is keeping his promise to keep our country safe by deporting criminal illegal aliens.

There is compelling evidence the Obama administration was more interested in politics than public safety – and to prove that, look no further than former President Barack Obama’s own ICE statistics. In 2014, Obama’s ICE department released more than 30,000 criminal illegal aliens into the public. This is down from 2014 when the administration released more than 36,000, and these were not petty crimes. In 2013, ICE released 193 people convicted of homicide, 426 convicted of sexual assault, more than 300 convicted of kidnapping, and more than 15,000 for DUI. Why would anyone release these criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets?

Trump is taking the safety of the public much more seriously. When looking at administrative arrests of criminal illegal aliens, it is clear the Obama administration did not care about the safety of American citizens. In Trump’s first fiscal year in office, ICE increased administrative arrests by 30 percent from 110,104 to 143,470.

Listening to most of the media, one would think ICE was arresting sweet little old ladies. But a quick look at the data shows nothing could be farther from the truth. Statistics released by the Department of Homeland Security show in FY2017 ICE conducted 143,470 administrative arrests. Of those, 89.2 percent had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. There were more than 11,000 convictions and pending charges for sexual assault and sex offenses. There were more than 1,800 for homicide, and another 2,027 for kidnapping.

What is truly atrocious is the Obama administration let these people stay in the country.

Another example of Obama’s lax approach to public safety was the administration’s approach to detainers. When an illegal alien commits a crime, other than the obvious crime of being here illegally, and is arrested by local law enforcement, ICE will issue an immigration hold, also known as a detainer, on the person. The local law enforcement officials will then notify ICE when they plan on releasing the alien, so ICE can pick them up and begin deportation proceedings. The problem with the Obama administration was it rarely issued the detainers.

Under Trump, that has changed. From January 20, 2016, to September 30, 2016, the Obama administration only requested 62,192 detainers, but under President Trump, just one year later, requests increased by 81 percent to 112,493. And contrary to what the mainstream media would have the public believe, the detainers were not for little old ladies crossing the street.

The most recent example of the Obama administration having disdain for the public is the revelation that tens of millions of Social Security numbers have been stolen by illegal aliens. According to the Immigration Reform Law Institute from 2012 to 2016, there were 39 million instances where names and Social Security numbers on W-2 tax forms did not match. Not only did the numbers not match, but the Obama administration also decided to not inform the employers.

This is troublesome for several reasons, the least of which is the authorities dedicated to law enforcement were actively aiding and abetting illegal aliens breaking the law. It also poses a problem for the people that had their identities stolen.

Having your identity stolen, regardless of the thief’s intent, is something no one should have to go through. If you are trying to buy a house, having your identity stolen can put a stop to that. In today’s economy, employers often run background checks before hiring. Having your identity stolen can take away that job.

The Obama administration wants the people to believe its treatment of illegal aliens was about compassion, but where was the compassion for American citizens? What about the new family that couldn’t buy its first house because of identity theft? What about the tens of thousands of crimes committed against Americans by illegal aliens? Where is the compassion for them

President Trump is showing he has compassion for Americans, and that is driving the left-wing media and Democrats crazy.

Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican, represents Arizona's 4th Congressional District. You can follow him on Twitter: @REPGOSAR