1. Write a brief overall summary of your findings.
What I've found is that this is a complicated subject, that requires a lot of context. A lot of deportations under the Bush administration were referred to as "removals" and many people were turned away at the border. Turning people away was called a "voluntary departure" but still technically acts as deportation. According to the Migration Policy Institute, around 5 million people were deported under the Obama administration. According to a top domestic policy adviser, Cecilia Muñoz, the focus was on deporting people with criminal records, as well as people who had recently come to the USA, claiming it to be "more humane". "She argues that Obama prioritized deporting people convicted of serious crimes and recent arrivals who had no criminal records." (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/13/politics/obama-trump-deportations-illegal-immigration)
This is a contrast to Trump's policies, which focus on deporting as many people as possible. Obama's policies also focused on immigrants near the border, with the idea that immigrants who were living by the borders most likely had been in America for shorter periods of time. This policy differs from Trump's, which seems to have no rhyme or reason beside deporting as many as possible. So overall this claim is true, but hard to use in a political argument due to complicated context and ethical questions.
2. What primary sources did you find https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deportations-deporter-chief-or-not
3. What secondary sources did you find
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/obama-record-deportations-deporter-chief-or-not
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/13/politics/obama-trump-deportations-illegal-immigration
4. What potential biases or interests might each of your sources have?
There are some biases at play in my research, as CNN tends to lean left, and they chose to interview someone who previously had worked for the Obama administration. Because Muñoz worked for the Obama administration, she could very well be biased toward Obama, and against Trump, and may make claims to make Obama seem superior.
5. What evidence supports the claim you are fact-checking?
There are statistics that show the original claim is true. Obama did deport more people than Trump, however it was under different circumstances.
6. What evidence undermines the claim you are fact-checking?
Nothing directly undermines the claim. There is only context to be added.
7. What happened when you tried contacting the person or group who made the original claim
CNN has not responded to my questions about their bias or the legitimacy of their source in Muñoz.