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ICE is now deporting nearly 1,300 people a day, according to the latest agency data that underscores the Trump administration’s ramp-up.
If sustained over 12 months, it would break President Obama’s modern-day deportation record, set in 2012.
But U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says its book-ins, or arrests, have dropped below 900 a day, indicating the agency is having trouble making headway on President Trump’s goal of booting out the millions who arrived during the Biden border chaos.
The data, released Thursday and current as of July 26, shows that ICE has formally removed 246,287 people so far this fiscal year — up from 228,282 on July 12. That works out to 1,286 deportations a day, which would be on pace for nearly 470,000 removals across a full year.
Mr. Obama set the previous record with nearly 420,000 in 2012.
The Trump pace still falls far short of the 1 million deportations per year some officials have suggested as their informal goal.
One reason removals aren’t higher is that there just aren’t as many new arrivals coming across the border. President Trump saw the best month on record in June for border arrests.
But in the interior, ICE is struggling to find new targets — and when it does try to expand its aperture, it is running into court resistance.
A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled last month that agents made unconstitutional sweeps to try to boost numbers in June. And another federal judge in Washington ruled on Friday that ICE cannot use a speedy deportation tool known as “expedited removal” on migrants President Biden allowed into the country on “parole.”
ICE reported it had 56,945 people in detention as of July 26.
That’s down slightly from the peak of 57,861 in late June, but still well above the Biden totals last year, when ICE regularly held between 30,000 and 40,000.
President Trump’s new One Big Beautiful Bill budget law includes money to dramatically expand detention and deportation capacity, so the numbers could increase in the coming months as ICE ramps up.
SEE ALSO: Judge says DHS can’t use fast deportation on Biden parole migrants
The Washington Times has reached out to Homeland Security for this story.
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