Full interview: Acting ICE director Todd Lyons
Halfway into President Trump's first year back in office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency spearheading his crackdown on illegal immigration, is on track to record the most deportations since the Obama administration, according to internal government figures obtained by CBS News.
During the first six months of Mr. Trump's second presidency, ICE recorded nearly 150,000 deportations — or an average of more than 800 per day — putting the agency on a trajectory to carry out more than 300,000 removals in the president's first year back in office if deportations continue at the same pace, the data indicates.
That would be the highest annual tally since fiscal year 2014, when the Obama administration recorded 316,000 ICE deportations, historical agency figures show. The government's fiscal year begins in October and ends at the end of September.
Created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, ICE is charged with deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally or whose legal status is revoked, including because of criminal offenses or allegations of immigration fraud. The highest deportation level reported by ICE occurred in fiscal year 2012, when the agency recorded 410,000 removals.
While it would be a significant increase, more than 300,000 ICE deportations in a year would still be far short of the target of 1 million annual deportations that Trump administration officials have outlined, highlighting the operational and legal constraints on immigration enforcement that Republican and Democratic presidents alike have confronted.
At the same time, it's possible ICE's deportation efforts could expand significantly in the next six months, since the agency just received an unprecedented infusion of funding through Mr. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including $45 billion to set up more detention facilities and $30 billion to fund every stage of the deportation process.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News last week, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said the 1 million annual deportation goal could "definitely" be "possible" with the new funds, saying the agency plans to use the money to hire 10,000 agents and officers to locate and arrest those suspected of being in the country illegally.
ICE is also not the only federal agency that carries out deportations.
During Mr. Trump's first six months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 112,000 deportations, according to the internal government data. Those include deportations of migrants who crossed the U.S. southern border illegally, though illegal crossings there have plummeted to levels not seen since the 1960s amid Mr. Trump's government-wide crackdown.
Additionally, the statistics show the Department of Homeland Security has tracked over 13,000 self-deportations since the start of Mr. Trump's second term. His administration has aggressively pushed those in the country illegally to self-deport by setting up a government app to facilitate the process, offering them a $1,000 self-deportion bonus and warning them that they will be detained, fined or even criminally prosecuted even if they refuse to leave voluntarily.
Tricia McLaughlin, the top DHS spokeswoman, confirmed ICE's deportation tally six months into the administration. She said the administration has recorded more than 280,000 repatriations and self-deportations across the board — not just those conducted by ICE — since Mr. Trump took office.
Mr. Trump, who campaigned on launching the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history, has given ICE a sweeping mandate. His administration has reversed Biden-era limits on immigration arrests in the U.S. interior, enlisted other federal agencies and the military to help ICE with its deportation goals and dramatically expanded the categories of those eligible for deportation, including by revoking the humanitarian protections of hundreds of thousands of migrants.
In recent weeks, ICE has held record levels of detainees in its sprawling detention system. As of earlier this week, there were more than 57,000 detainees facing deportation in ICE custody, according to internal agency data. ICE arrests have roughly doubled since Mr. Trump's first 100 days in office, though they remain far below the daily goal of 3,000 set by Stephen Miller, one of the president's top White House advisers.
While ICE routinely highlights arrests of those in the U.S. illegally who have been convicted of violent crimes, its enforcement efforts have also led to the detention of asylum-seekers attending immigration court hearings, workers in a variety of industries and other non-criminals suspected of being in the country without permission. Those operations have been strongly denounced by Democratic lawmakers and have triggered protests in communities throughout the country, including in southern California.
A recent CBS News poll showed that Mr. Trump's deportation effort has lost the majority support it once enjoyed among the public, with a growing share of Americans expressing concerns about immigration authorities not focusing on arresting and deporting dangerous criminals.
Lyons, the acting ICE director, told CBS News that his agency continues to prioritize the "worst of the worst," but he said anyone found by his agents to be in the country illegally will be taken into custody and processed for deportation.
"We have opened up the whole aperture of the immigration portfolio," Lyons said.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the immigration reporter at CBS News. Based in Washington, he covers immigration policy and politics.
