The federal government is bringing 43 percent less deportation cases to U.S. immigration courts over the last five years according to Justice Department data analyzed by the New York Times on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, President Obama called House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to try and discuss immigration legislation. The call didn't go well as Cantor says Obama "attacked him and his fellow Republicans".

It is believed that there are more than 11 million people in the United States illegally, many of them children brought over the Mexican border by their parents.

Obama, who wants immigration reform to be a priority, has been criticized for being part of an administration that has deported 2 million people. He's been referred to as a "deporter in chief" by some advocacy groups and accused by those groups of "rushing" to get to that 2 million deported figure.

Still, the Obama administration has brought 26 percent fewer cases in immigration courts in 2013 than in 2009, the New York Times reports.

In 2013, there was a total of nearly 370,000 deportations, 10 percent less than 2012. Of those, 105,000 were ordered by judges in immigration courts.

Last year, about one third of cases decided by judges resulted in the illegal immigrant being allowed to stay in the United States. In 2009, it was only about one fifth of the cases.

This doesn't mean that enforcement and laws are changing, rather, it's because immigrants are fighting deportations and obtaining lawyers. This leads to complex cases and delays in deportations. 

Additionally, Obama administration officials are also considering allowing bond hearings for immigrants who have been detained for a long period of time. Because immigration courts act quickly on cases involving jailed immigrants, allowing bond hearings could lead to even less deportations.

If these bond hearings are allowed, several thousand detained immigrants nationwide could be released, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Homeland Security officials explain the decrease in deportations by pointing out their focus of deporting convicted criminals, foreigners who pose a security threat and recent illegal border jumpers rather than those who don't pose a threat.