ICE deportations surge but still fall massively short of Trump’s campaign promises

President Donald Trump’s administration is on track to deport roughly 660,000 people over the past year, according to a report published on Thursday, as law enforcement operations ramp up across the nation, backed by billions of dollars intended to accelerate his immigration agenda.

The analysis by the Migration Policy Institute shows deportations increased from 620,000 during the first year of Trump’s second term.

Nevertheless, the totals remain below previous highs established in the early 2000s and do not fulfill the administration’s pledge to Congress that the surge in funding would facilitate 1 million annual deportations.

Based on public data obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, the report follows a decision by the Trump administration in January 2025 to stop releasing regular figures compiled by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Republican leader returned to office last year promising to curb crossings at the southern border and enact a broad crackdown on immigration.

His administration has introduced strict limits on both legal and unauthorized entry while carrying out high-profile arrest sweeps across the country.

More people being deported, but not reaching all-time highs

The analysis found that the Department of Homeland Security carried out 980,000 deportations during the first 18 months of the second Trump administration.

During the most recent fiscal year, as federal enforcement systems shifted into high gear, an estimated 660,000 people were removed from the country.

According to the institute’s findings, that marks a 26 percent increase compared to the annual average between 2021 and 2024 under Democratic President Joe Biden, but falls well short of the 1.86 million deportations recorded in 2000 under President Bill Clinton.

Despite the rise in enforcement, the report outlines several challenges facing the administration in meeting its deportation goals. Historically, most undocumented migrants in the United States originated from Mexico and rarely filed for asylum.

In recent years, however, arrivals have come from a broader array of countries, which can make repatriation significantly more complicated. At the same time, immigration courts face severe case backlogs that delay final decisions on whether individuals can be removed.

Voluntary departures are increasing alongside interior arrests

The report also noted that voluntary departures, instances where individuals abandon their legal cases and agree to leave the country, reached an “all-time high,” with 170,000 people opting to depart since Trump assumed office in January 2025.

While those who accept voluntary departure retain the possibility of returning legally in the future, legal advocates and attorneys say many migrants agree to leave simply to end their time in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.

At the same time, federal authorities are increasingly deporting individuals arrested inside the country’s interior, signaling stepped-up actions against long-term residents.

In 2025, approximately 28 percent of those deported were arrested within the interior, but that figure rose to 39 percent by July of this year.

Migrants apprehended near the southern border still account for the majority of removals, with border interceptions representing 69 percent of all deportations between Jan. 20, 2025, and July 31, 2026.

People residing in the interior longer typically have more legal avenues to contest removal, whereas federal authorities generally possess broader authority to fast-track deportations for those detained at the border.

The study observed that most individuals deported have no criminal record, despite administration assertions that enforcement prioritizes the “worst of the worst”—a pattern consistent with earlier data.

Immigration data no longer regularly released under Trump

Tracking campaign promises has become more difficult since Homeland Security stopped publishing routine statistics when Trump took office.

The figures released by the administration have been inconsistent and difficult to verify independently.

While maintaining that it operates transparently, the administration published a document on Tuesday highlighting its immigration achievements, asserting that 1.2 million migrants have been deported or removed during Trump’s second term.

That discrepancy with the report’s numbers could not immediately be reconciled.

In the absence of regular official disclosures, analysts and advocacy groups tracking immigration trends have been forced to rely on lawsuit disclosures and sporadic agency releases to evaluate deportation numbers.