US deports 980,000 immigrants in 18 months
WASHINGTON:- According to an analysis by the Migration Policy Institute, approximately 980,000 people were deported from the United States during the first 18 months of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term.
This figure is somewhat lower than the Trump administration’s stated goal of deporting one million immigrants annually. The MPI estimates that approximately 620,000 immigrants will be deported in fiscal year 2025, and about 660,000 in fiscal year 2026. This figure is 26 percent higher than the Biden administration’s annual average.
This analysis, released on Thursday, covers the period from January 20, 2025, to July 31, 2026. Following a reduction in the publication of immigration-related statistics by the federal government, the MPI prepared these estimates using publicly available data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
According to the MPI, more than two-thirds of the individuals who were deported had initially been apprehended at the U.S. border.
The Trump administration has claimed that more than 3 million undocumented immigrants have left the United States since it took office in January 2025. Of this total, an estimated 2.2 million individuals returned to their home countries voluntarily. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported that, as of September 7, approximately 1.1 million people had been deported and over 1.1 million had been arrested. These government figures cover a longer period than the timeframe analyzed by the MPI (which ends on July 31).
With the tightening of immigration laws and the allocation of additional funding in the United States, there has been a sharp increase in ICE raids and deportations. Through Trump’s “one big beautiful bill,” billions of dollars in additional funding have been provided to ICE for immigration enforcement.
