Deportation Numbers and Shifting Immigration Trends Under Trump

The Trump administration has made promises of large-scale deportations, yet the public has not received regular updates on the number of deportations carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Reports from NBC News indicate that ICE deported approximately 11,000 migrants in February and a little over 12,300 during the initial four weeks of March.

Officials within the Trump administration have stated their intention to prioritize the deportation of individuals with criminal records. However, ICE data reveals that around half of the individuals deported in February did not have any criminal history. Furthermore, more than half of those currently held in ICE detention are not facing any criminal charges or convictions.

Last year, ICE informed Congress that, as of July, they had identified 435,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions within the United States who were not in custody. The number of these non-citizens with criminal records who have since been arrested or deported remains unclear.

In contrast to the focus on deportations, data from Customs and Border Protection indicates a significant decrease in unauthorized crossings at the southern border.