Internal enforcement figures suggest the number of completed deportations under formal removal orders is far smaller than broader totals cited by the administration.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
New internal data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement suggests that widely cited deportation totals under the Trump administration may include several types of enforcement actions that differ from formal deportations ordered by immigration judges.
According to a report by the Daily Caller News Foundation, internal figures show ICE carried out slightly more than 35,500 deportations between Oct. 1, 2025 and late February that involved individuals removed under a final order issued by an immigration judge.
Those figures differ from publicly reported deportation totals because they exclude other enforcement outcomes such as voluntary departures, expedited removals at the border, or migrants turned back by U.S. authorities before entering the country.
ICE’s internal figures measure only the physical removal of individuals after formal legal proceedings.
“A removal in the truest sense and the figure above is the physical deportation of an illegal alien under a formal order issued by an immigration judge or through administrative proceedings,” a Department of Homeland Security source told the Daily Caller News Foundation on condition of anonymity. “The person is escorted onto a plane or to a port of entry and physically expelled from the country, with a legal bar on future re-entry.”
“It is the only metric that means someone actually left, ICE ERO only,” the source continued. “Not an arrest, not a detention, not a voluntary departure, not a border turnaround, hand off from [Customs and Border Protection] — a completed, executed deportation with a paper trail in ICE’s system.”
ICE declined to confirm or dispute the internal figures when contacted by the outlet.
The agency’s annual enforcement reports typically provide a detailed accounting of all actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the fiscal year. Previous reports for 2024, 2023, and 2022 were each released in December of their respective years.
However, the agency’s fiscal year 2025 report had not yet been published at the time the figures were reported.
A similar delay occurred in 2022 when the Biden administration released an enforcement report showing historically low deportation numbers. That report revealed the lowest removal figures recorded by the agency and was detailed in reporting by CBS News.
If ICE maintains its current pace of removals involving final orders from immigration judges, the Enforcement and Removal Operations division would deport slightly more than 85,000 individuals by the end of fiscal year 2026, according to estimates based on the internal data.
That figure contrasts with broader deportation totals frequently cited by federal officials. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said earlier this year that the administration carried out roughly 675,000 deportations in 2025, according to a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security announcing the results of enforcement operations.
In addition, ICE reported removing nearly 530,000 non-citizens between Jan. 20, 2025 and March 1 when accounting for returns and expulsions conducted by the agency.
Public statistics from ICE often combine several categories of immigration enforcement actions. Individuals processed through expedited removal, voluntary departures or certain border enforcement actions can be counted within removal totals depending on how they are processed by immigration authorities, according to the agency’s official statistics.
The Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a central policy priority since returning to the White House. Federal officials have implemented measures aimed at expanding enforcement capacity, including a significant recruitment effort that increased ICE staffing by roughly 120 percent, according to a DHS announcement about the agency’s expanded workforce.
Congress also approved additional funding for immigration enforcement programs as part of legislation commonly referred to as the Big Beautiful Bill, which provided billions of dollars in additional resources for immigration enforcement agencies. Details about the funding expansion were reported by the Daily Caller.
Those policies have led to increased arrests and expanded detention capacity compared with the previous administration, according to analysis cited in reporting by the Daily Caller.
Despite those efforts, immigration officials say the process of deporting individuals after final court orders remains complicated by several logistical and legal obstacles.
One of the primary challenges involves cooperation from foreign governments. Some countries have historically resisted accepting citizens ordered removed from the United States. Venezuela, which has been a major source of illegal migration in recent years, has previously resisted repatriation efforts, although cooperation has reportedly improved following changes in political leadership there. Those dynamics were discussed in earlier reporting about immigration enforcement challenges by the Daily Caller.
Members of Congress have proposed legislative responses aimed at addressing the issue. Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy and other lawmakers have advocated withholding foreign aid from countries that refuse to accept deported nationals, a proposal discussed in reporting by the Daily Caller.
Another obstacle is the backlog in the U.S. immigration court system. The number of pending cases exceeded three million as of December, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Immigration advocates and enforcement officials alike have pointed to cases in which migrants successfully prolonged legal proceedings or challenged removal orders in court. Examples cited in public reporting include cases involving individuals such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia and Lucio Tomar, whose legal challenges slowed or halted deportation efforts.
Federal officials have attempted to reduce the backlog by expanding immigration court capacity. The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review announced new initiatives aimed at increasing case processing speed, as described in a statement from the agency outlining recent court milestones.
The administration has also turned to additional personnel to handle immigration cases, including military judges temporarily assigned to support immigration courts. The strategy was detailed in reporting by the Daily Caller.
While interior deportation operations remain complex, the administration has emphasized a major reduction in illegal border crossings.
U.S. Border Patrol has reported nine consecutive months without releasing migrants into the interior of the country following apprehension at the southern border, according to a statement from Customs and Border Protection.
Officials have attributed that development to stricter border enforcement measures and new policies targeting visa abuse. The Department of Homeland Security said those policies helped bring about the first decline in the U.S. foreign-born population in more than fifty years, according to a DHS announcement.
Matt O’Brien, deputy executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the administration has significantly reduced new illegal migration but must now focus on removing individuals already in the country unlawfully.
“The Biden administration embraced mass migration and allowed millions of illegal aliens into our country,” O’Brien said. “In contrast, under President Trump, new illegal immigration to the United States has fallen to historic lows as his administration moved quickly to restore order and fulfill the mandate given to him by voters.”
“But the president must now bring that same level of resolve to carrying out his promise to deport the millions of people who are still in this country illegally,” he continued, urging expanded workplace enforcement and increased efforts to target visa overstays.
FAIR and several other organizations recently announced the creation of the Mass Deportation Coalition, which is advocating for the removal of one million illegal migrants by the end of 2026. The coalition plans to release a policy framework outlining potential strategies to reach that goal, an initiative described in reporting by the Daily Caller.
“The American people deserve nothing less,” O’Brien said.
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