Deportation in the second Trump administration
During Donald Trump's second and current tenure as the president of the United States, his administration has pursued a deportation policy characterized as "hardline",[a] "maximalist",[15] and a mass deportation campaign,[12] affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants through detentions, confinements, and expulsions.[12] The Trump administration has claimed that around 140,000 people had been deported as of April 2025, though some estimates put the number at roughly half that amount.[16] On 28 August 2025, CNN reported that ICE alone has deported nearly 200,000 people in seven months since Trump returned to office.[17] On January 23, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began to carry out raids on sanctuary cities, with hundreds of immigrants detained and deported. The Trump administration reversed the policy of the previous administration and gave ICE permission to raid schools, hospitals and places of worship.[18][19] The use of deportation flights by the U.S. has created pushback from some foreign governments, particularly that of Colombia.[20] Fears of ICE raids have negatively impacted agriculture,[18] construction,[21] and the hospitality industry.[22] The total population of illegal immigrants in the United States was estimated at 11 million in 2022, with California continuing, from ten years prior, to have the largest population.[23][24] The administration has used the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport suspected illegal immigrants with limited or no due process,[25][26] and to be imprisoned in El Salvador, which was halted by federal judges and the Supreme Court.[27][28] It ordered the re-opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to hold potentially tens of thousands of illegal immigrants,[29][30] but has faced logistical and legal difficulties using it as an immigrant camp.[31] The majority of detentions have been for non-violent matters.[32][33][34] Several American citizens were mistakenly detained and deported.[35] Administration practices have faced legal issues and controversy with lawyers, judges, and legal scholars.[25] Trump had discussed deportations during his presidential campaign in 2016,[36][37] during his first presidency (2017–2021), and in his 2024 presidential campaign.[38][39] At the time of the 2016 lead-up to his first presidential term, approximately one-third of Americans supported deporting all immigrants present in the United States illegally, and at the time of the January 2025 start to his second presidential term, public opinion had shifted, with a majority of Americans in support, according to a January 2025 review.[40] As early as April 2025, multiple polls found that the majority of Americans thought that the deportations went "too far".[41][42][43][44] Background
2024 campaignThe New York Times reported that Trump planned "an extreme expansion of his first-term crackdown on immigration", including "preparing to round up undocumented people already in the United States on a vast scale and detain them in sprawling camps while they wait to be expelled", and that it "amounts to an assault on immigration on a scale unseen in modern American history". The New York Times also reported that Trump's advisors are preparing a 'blitz' strategy designed to overwhelm immigrant-rights lawyers, and that his plans would rely on existing statutes without the need for new legislation, although such legislation would also likely be attempted.[38] Economic reports from the Brookings Institution and Peterson Institute for International Economics have found that Trump's plans would result in a decrease in employment for American-born workers and result in "no economic growth over the second Trump administration from this policy alone"[45] while other estimates have it shrinking the American gross domestic product by 4.2-6.8%.[46] Policy intentions and proposalsDuring his rallies, Trump said he would revoke the temporary protected status of Haitian migrants living legally in the US and deport them back to Haiti.[47] Trump did not rule out separating families with mixed citizenship status.[48] On the campaign trail in December 2023, Trump said immigrants coming to the U.S. are "poisoning the blood of our country", a remark that quickly drew a rebuke from his chief Democratic Party rival, President Joe Biden, whose campaign likened the words to those of Adolf Hitler.[49] The American Immigration Council says that a "highly conservative" estimate of Trump's plan would cost at least $315 billion, or $967.9 billion over a decade, and be unworkable without massive outdoor detention camps.[38] Trump has stated that his plan would follow the 'Eisenhower model,' a reference to the 1954 campaign Operation Wetback. To achieve the goal of deporting millions per year, Trump stated his intent to expand expedited removal pursuant to section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; invoke the Alien Enemies Act within the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798; and invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to allow the military to apprehend immigrants and bypass the Posse Comitatus Act.[38] Trump told a rally audience in September 2024 that the deportation effort "will be a bloody story". He has also spoken of rounding up homeless people in blue cities and detaining them in camps.[50][51] The Trump team will also attempt to overturn the Flores settlement that prevents the indefinite holding of children.[38] .jpg) Trump has promised to reinstate his ban on entry to individuals from certain Muslim-majority nations, and have the Centers for Disease Control reimpose COVID-era restrictions on asylum claims by asserting immigrants carry infectious diseases such as the flu, tuberculosis, and scabies.[38] Trump has said he would build more of the border wall, and move thousands of troops currently stationed overseas to the southern border.[52] Other proposals included revoking temporary protected status for individuals living in the United States, ending birthright citizenship for persons born in the United States to foreign parents, using coercive diplomacy by making immigration cooperation a condition for bilateral engagement, reinstating 'Remain in Mexico' and reviving 'safe third country' status with several nations in Central America, as well as expanding it to Africa, Asia, and South America.[38][53] Trump's campaign has stated his intention to expel Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients after his previous attempt failed in 2020 by a 5–4 vote in the Supreme Court in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California.[38] Implementation actions_(cropped).jpg) Policy changesOn January 22, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the administration was rolling back an Obama-era directive that had protected illegal immigrants in sensitive areas such as hospitals, places of worship, courtrooms, funerals, weddings and schools. A spokesperson stated that the Trump administration was not looking to tie the hands of law enforcement.[18][19] On January 24, Huffman sent out a memo stating that immigrants admitted temporarily by the Biden administration could be removed.[54] On February 19, the Trump administration issued a stop-work order to prevent the Office of Refugee Resettlement from funding organizations providing legal services to unaccompanied minors entering the United States; Mother Jones said the order stopped legal representation for 25,000 minors and education programs on rights for 100,000 others.[55] On March 14, 2025, United States Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive allowing law enforcement officials to enter the homes of migrants without warrants.[56][57] As deportation flights have increased, airlines have increasingly sought to hide details about their planes from flight trackers.[58] On September 5, a federal immigration court ruled that undocumented immigrants living in the US are ineligible to be released on bond, potentially subjecting millions of immigrants including longtime residents to mandatory detention while their cases are processed. Former immigration judge Dana Leigh Marks called the policy change a "cynical move to try to force people to litigate their cases while they're detained."[59] Diversion and support from other government agenciesOn January 23, 2025, the DHS authorized federal law enforcement to assist in carrying out Trump immigration policies. A memo from acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman provided "the functions of an immigration officer" to several agencies within the Justice Department, including the | |||||||||||||||||||||
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