Trump Administration Intensifies Deportation Efforts
WASHINGTON: Newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump oversaw the deportation of 37,660 individuals in his first month in office. This figure falls significantly short of the monthly average of 57,000 deportations and returns recorded during the final year of Joe Biden’s presidency.
A senior administration official indicated that deportation numbers are expected to rise as Trump implements expanded enforcement measures. A DHS spokesperson suggested that the high deportation figures under Biden were influenced by an increase in illegal border crossings, making removals more frequent.
Trump’s campaign heavily emphasized a commitment to expel millions of undocumented immigrants, aiming for what he described as the most extensive deportation operation in U.S. history. However, early data suggests that achieving this goal may prove challenging, particularly when compared to previous records.
Under the Biden administration, higher apprehension rates at the border facilitated deportations. The Trump administration is working to accelerate its efforts through agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica, allowing them to accept deportees from various nations.
The U.S. military has already played a role in facilitating deportation flights to Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and India. Additionally, Venezuelan migrants have been transported to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Security analysts, such as Adam Isacson from the Washington Office on Latin America, suggest that military-assisted deportations could expand due to the Pentagon’s vast budget and logistical capabilities.
Broadening Deportation Policies
The Trump administration is also working to streamline the arrest and removal of undocumented immigrants who lack criminal records. U.S. immigration laws could be leveraged to target alleged gang members and individuals associated with designated terrorist organizations.
Further bolstering enforcement, agents from various federal agencies—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the State Department—are being reassigned to assist with immigration arrests and investigations.
Jessica Vaughan, a policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for stricter immigration controls, believes that these additional resources will be instrumental in targeting employers who hire undocumented workers and those with final deportation orders.
In Trump’s first three weeks in office, ICE recorded approximately 14,000 arrests, according to border czar Tom Homan. This equates to about 667 arrests per day—double the previous year’s average—but still falling short of the millions Trump had pledged to deport annually.
