For four years, America watched as Joe Biden turned our immigration system into a complete joke.
Millions of illegal immigrants flooded across our border while ICE agents were told to stand down and let criminals roam free.
But Trump’s deportation machine shattered one record with numbers that has Democrats in total panic.
ICE finally unleashed to do its job
Want to see what real leadership looks like? Check out what’s happening at Immigration and Customs Enforcement under President Trump.
ICE is now arresting nearly 1,200 illegal immigrants every single day. They’re detaining more than 56,000 people – breaking the all-time detention record that was set during the 2019 border surge.
Daily deportations have topped 1,100 as agents work around the clock to move people out of the country as fast as they can arrest them.
This is exactly what Trump promised during his campaign, and he’s delivering results that seemed impossible just months ago.
The transformation didn’t happen overnight. It took five months of steady work to overcome the damage Biden caused and get ICE back to full strength.
But now that Trump’s deportation machine is hitting its stride, the numbers are absolutely staggering.
Stephen Miller orders ICE to expand operations
The man behind this incredible success is White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
According to The Washington Times, Miller ordered ICE last month to "broaden its aperture of arrests" and told agents they must be "more aggressive" to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants who settled here during Biden’s open borders disaster.
Miller understands what too many politicians refuse to admit: you can’t have mass deportations if you only target people with criminal records.
The math simply doesn’t work when you’re dealing with the scale of illegal immigration we’re facing.
Under Miller’s direction, ICE has started arresting far more migrants without criminal records – and the results speak for themselves.
As of June 14, about 70% of ICE detainees had either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. That’s down from 77% in late May and way down from over 94% during Biden’s final month in office.
Critics are whining about "quota hunting," but this is exactly what needs to happen to restore order to our immigration system.
Record-breaking detention numbers expose Biden’s failure
The detention numbers tell the whole story about how completely Biden wrecked our immigration system.
As of June 14, ICE reported 56,397 people in custody – over 5,000 more than at the end of May alone.
This breaks the previous all-time high of 55,654 that was set during the 2019 border surge when Trump was dealing with his first immigration crisis.
Think about that for a second. Trump inherited an even worse situation this time than he faced in his first term, and he’s still managing to set new records for arrests and deportations.
The family detention numbers are particularly telling. ICE is now holding 633 people as part of family units – a 130% increase over the end of May.
Biden had ended family detention completely, making it impossible to deport entire families who entered illegally together.
Trump brought it back because he understands that family detention is crucial for actually removing people from the country instead of just releasing them with a court date they’ll never show up for.
Deportation pace approaching Obama-era records
ICE deported 15,656 people during the first two weeks of June, averaging 1,118 deportations per day.
That puts Trump on pace to match or exceed the record deportation numbers from 2012 under Barack Obama – though Obama’s numbers were inflated because they included more border crossers who were easier to remove.
Trump’s deportations are harder to achieve because he’s dealing with people who have been living illegally in American communities for years.
From June 1 to June 14, ICE made 16,704 arrests that were independent of border apprehensions. Experts say that pace is heading toward a new record.
This is what happens when you actually let ICE do its job instead of handcuffing agents with political correctness and sanctuary city policies.
Budget challenges ahead as Congress drags its feet
The only thing standing between Trump and even bigger deportation numbers is money.
Congress has only funded an average of 44,000 detention beds per day, but ICE is already holding over 56,000 people.
That means ICE could hit a budget crunch this summer unless Congress steps up and provides the resources Trump needs to finish the job.
Immigration Accountability Project policy director Rosemary Jenks warned that the current pace will be "difficult to sustain, much less increase, without a massive infusion of money from Congress, especially for the detention beds."
This is where Republican leadership in Congress needs to prove they’re serious about supporting Trump’s agenda.
The American people elected Trump specifically to secure the border and deport illegal immigrants. Congress has no excuse for not funding the operations needed to make that happen.
Trump targets big cities where the problem is worst
President Trump has been smart about directing ICE’s efforts toward the places where they can have the biggest impact.
In a Truth Social post, Trump urged ICE to focus on mass deportations while avoiding the country’s "heartland."
"In order to achieve this, we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside," Trump wrote.
This makes perfect strategic sense. These sanctuary cities have been protecting illegal immigrants for years, and now they’re finally facing consequences for their lawless policies.
Trump is forcing places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York to deal with the results of their own sanctuary city nonsense.
Immigration activists admit Trump is winning
Even Trump’s critics are acknowledging that his deportation strategy is working.
Vanessa Cardenas from the pro-illegal immigrant group America’s Voice admitted that "Stephen Miller is the one running the show when it comes to immigration in the Trump White House."
She complained that the expansion of deportations is "costing Mr. Trump support among part of his political base who wanted a secure border but didn’t back his broad deportation goals."
What Cardenas doesn’t understand is that you can’t have border security without interior enforcement.
If people know they can just disappear into American cities after crossing illegally, the border becomes meaningless.
Trump gets this, which is why his approach addresses both border security and the millions of people who are already here illegally.
Expert explains why broad enforcement is essential
Rosemary Jenks perfectly captured why Trump’s strategy is the only one that can actually work.
"We’ve stopped digging is good, but how do you get out of that hole?" she said. "The only way you get them to leave is by doing random enforcement. Grandma has to be deported, your next-door neighbor has to be deported. Not just hardened criminals, not just gang-bangers."
Jenks is absolutely right. The "criminals first" approach sounds nice, but it’s not realistic when you’re dealing with the scale of illegal immigration we’re facing.
Biden let in millions of people who don’t have criminal records but are still here illegally.
Trump can’t fix the problem by only targeting the small percentage who happen to have been caught committing other crimes.
The numbers don’t lie about Trump’s success
After five months of steady progress, Trump’s deportation machine is finally operating at the level America needs.
Nearly 1,200 arrests per day. Over 1,100 deportations per day. More than 56,000 people in detention – a new all-time record.
These aren’t just statistics. They represent real progress toward restoring the rule of law and protecting American communities.
Every illegal immigrant who gets deported is one less person taking jobs from American workers, using taxpayer-funded services, or potentially committing crimes against American citizens.
The open borders crowd is panicking because they know Trump’s approach actually works.
For the first time in years, there are real consequences for entering our country illegally.
That’s exactly what the American people voted for, and Trump is delivering on his promises in spectacular fashion.
Congress needs to give him the resources to do even more.
