President Donald Trump’s second term has sparked conversation regarding U.S. immigration policy as his administration pushes to keep Trump’s promise to deport millions of people. Recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data shows deportations falling below expectations though immigration arrests are significantly higher than under former President Biden.
During his 2024 campaign, President Trump promised to prioritize enforcement against illegal immigration, secure the southern border, and end birthright citizenship. In his inauguration speech, Trump declared, “the golden age of America begins right now. We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
According to data released by ICE, the agency saw almost 13,000 immigration “book-ins” in February, up from about 12,000 in January and less than 8,000 in December. A book-in is when a detained individual enters into custody in an immigration detention facility. At the same time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seen fewer book-ins as southern border crossings have decreased, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
While ICE made 1,179 arrests by Jan. 26, the daily average arrests dropped to around 800 by the end of January and to fewer than 600 during the first two weeks of February. These figures fell far short of Trump officials’ predictions of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day though are significantly higher than arrests under Biden, who saw an average of 467 arrests per day in 2023, his largest year for enforcement, The Washington Post said in an article.
Removals have not kept up with arrests so far in Trump’s term. According to The New York Times, the Trump administration arrested around 23,000 people in February but deported only about 18,000. Reuters reported that in January Trump deported around 38,000 people, less than Biden’s average of 57,000 removals a month in 2024.
Countries in Central and South America have historically experienced the most detrimental effects from removals by ICE. Several of these countries have responded to this situation in differing ways.
According to The Associated Press, President Bernardo Arévalo said Guatemala will accept migrants from other countries being deported from the U.S. Deportees would be returned to their home countries at U.S. expense. El Salvador, under a U.S. agreement, has agreed to house deported individuals, regardless of nationality.
In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has set up shelters at the border to house returned citizens. Mexico also caused controversy in January when it denied a U.S. military plane carrying returned migrants permission to land.
Removals in Biden’s administration
While ICE removals saw a significant drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, former President Joe Biden oversaw a dramatic surge in removals during his final years in the oval office.
During Biden’s first full year in FY2021, his administration carried out nearly 60,000 ICE removals. By the end of his presidency, ICE removals had increased over fourfold, with numbers surpassing 270,000 in FY2024.
On April 10, 2023, Biden signed into law an act that ended the COVID national emergency, allowing ICE to resume operations that had been halted during the pandemic and carry out more widespread raids and removals.
From 2016 to 2024 – the start of Trump’s first term until the end of Biden’s administration — Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador had the highest number of overall ICE removals. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras experienced dramatic growth in ICE removals from 2021-2024, during Biden’s term, while Mexico experienced minimal growth, according to ICE data.
Trump’s first administration
Trump’s immigration policies have emphasized enforcement, but his first term saw deportation numbers fluctuating due to shifting priorities during the pandemic.
During Trump’s first term, in FY2017, ICE reported around 225,000 removals, down from over 240,000 in the final year of the Obama administration. ICE attributed the decrease to “an increased deterrent effect” from previous years’ stronger enforcement efforts.
During Trump’s first term, Mexican citizens were deported at more than four times the rate of the second highest, Guatemala.
In 2020, the final year of Trump’s first term, ICE removals fell to around 122,000, a significant decrease largely attributed to the pandemic. The Trump administration enforced policy changes in 2020 that prioritized removing individuals who posed public safety threats, rather than conducting widespread raids, aimed at reducing detention center populations to prevent the spread of COVID.
As America approaches the third month of Trump’s second administration, immigration enforcement efforts are likely to increase. The Department of Homeland Security is creating a registry for undocumented immigrants to self-report their status which requires individuals who are in the U.S. illegally to provide an address and fingerprints. Those who do not comply could face fines or prosecution, according to a statement released by Homeland Security.
You must be logged in to post a comment.