2 Million Deportations in 10 Months: DHS Releases New Figures
By Scott Burton Official for TrumpTrain.net (3 min read)
WASHINGTON The Department of Homeland Security has removed more than 2 million people from the United States since President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20, 2025, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday.
Noem delivered the figure during the final Cabinet meeting of the year (full recap here), telling Trump and other officials that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had “removed 2 million illegal immigrants” in the first 10½ months of the administration, with “more coming before the end of the year.”
The total marks the fastest pace of removals in modern U.S. history and surpasses the previous single-year record of 1.57 million set in fiscal 2013 under President Barack Obama.
Breakdown of the 2 Million Figure
DHS officials said Tuesday the 2 million includes both interior removals and border expulsions. Of those, approximately 1.4 million were processed at the southern border under Title 8 authorities, while 600,000 were arrested inside the country by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Noem said ICE has hired its 10,000th new officer since January and now conducts daily charter flights to more than 180 countries. She credited workplace raids, fugitive operations and a revived 287(g) program that deputizes local law enforcement.
“Every terrorist, every gang member, every criminal alien—we are finding them and removing them,” Noem said.
The 2 million milestone comes amid rising detention numbers, with ICE’s average daily in-custody population climbing from 34,000 in January to more than 58,000 this month—the highest since 2020.
Fentanyl Seizures Drop 56 Percent
The department also reported a 56 percent drop in fentanyl seized at the southern border compared with the same period in 2024, which Noem attributed to the mass-removal campaign and new maritime interdiction efforts.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the 2 million figure does not include voluntary departures or Title 42-style public-health expulsions used during the previous administration.
Reaction and Disputes
Immigration advocates disputed the characterization. The American Immigration Council said Tuesday that at least 185,000 of the removals involved individuals with no criminal record who had lived in the United States for more than a decade, including parents of U.S.-citizen children.DHS did not provide a breakdown by criminal history or country of origin when asked.
International Friction
The removals have strained relations with several Latin American nations. Mexico accepted 412,000 returnees through November, while Colombia suspended deportation flights for three weeks in October after Bogotá objected to shackling procedures.
Outlook
Noem said the department is on track to exceed 2.5 million removals by the end of fiscal 2026 if Congress approves an additional $18 billion in funding requested last month.Trump praised the numbers during Monday’s meeting, saying, “Kristi is doing a fantastic job — nobody has ever seen anything like it.”
The 2 million milestone comes eight months after Trump signed an executive order on Inauguration Day directing DHS to “remove all removable aliens” and reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers.
ICE data show average daily in-custody population has risen from 34,000 in January to more than 58,000 this month, the highest since 2020.
