(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Trump administration may have secured the borders, but its deportation numbers are leaving many MAGA diehards wanting.
According to a Sunday report in the Washington Post, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s daily arrests declined from about 800 per day in late January to fewer than 600 during the first 13 days of February. Such numbers are well below the Trump administration’s goal of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day, the Post noted.
Deportation Update:
ICE arrests have collapsed to <600 per day in February, or ~220k per year. Not counting the hundreds of illegals they are releasing weekly.
The admin says it stopped publishing daily numbers to “conserve resources.” Sure. pic.twitter.com/gZsUyn87JZ
— Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) February 17, 2025
According to Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, some 14,000 immigrants have been arrested in Trump’s first three weeks. By contrast, the Biden administration arrested more than 21,000 unauthorized immigrants last November—though, again, government was also allowing illegals to flood into the country unabated during that time.
What could explain the discrepancy? According to Homan, there aren’t as many illegals being caught because few of them are even trying to cross the border. Homan reportedly said last week that illegal border crossings have dropped 92% since Jan. 20. Homan reiterated that point Monday morning on Twitter/X.
In the last 24 hours the US Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden. I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984 and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low.…
— Thomas D. Homan (@RealTomHoman) February 17, 2025
“In the last 24 hours the US Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden. I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984 and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low,” he said. “President Trump promised a secure border and he is delivering.”
Further complicating the Trump administration’s deportation drive is the allegedly illegal activity from FBI agents assigned to help the cause.
Last week, Key details of the “large scale” ICE-led operations were leaked to the Los Angeles Times and subsequently published, exposing internal plans.
While the LA Times did not specify who leaked the information, it quoted an anonymous “federal law enforcement” source who spoke on condition of anonymity “for fear of reprisals”—leading many, including those in the Trump administration, to suspect the FBI.
“The FBI is so corrupt,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said last week. “We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.”
In any event, the Post reported that ICE has stopped publishing daily numbers, and will instead release the data on a monthly basis to “conserve resources.”
Meanwhile, Google is apparently misleading its users into thinking that Trump is carrying out a wave of deportations unlike anything ever seen before. According to the Guardian, Google search results is returning nearly decade-old cases when users search for news of mass immigration arrests.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
