Nearly 980,000 deportations under Trump in the US
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Expresso das Ilhas
The United States deported about 980,000 people between 20 January 2025 and 31 July 2026, since the start of Donald Trump’s second term. The pace reportedly rose from 620,000 deportations in 2025 to 660,000 in 2026, according to a Migration Policy Institute report based on public data.
US authorities deported nearly 980,000 people between 20 January 2025, the start of Donald Trump’s second term, and 31 July 2026. The operations were carried out jointly by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), according to a Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report published on Friday.
The pace of deportations rose from 620,000 in 2025 to 660,000 in the first seven months of 2026, while Donald Trump had pledged the “largest deportation operation” in US history, with a target of one million removals a year. The MPI compiled its figures from public data obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act, as the Department of Homeland Security has not published official figures since January 2025.
People intercepted at the border accounted for 69% of deportations, or about 680,000 cases. Of these, nearly 340,000 were turned back directly by CBP, while another 340,000 were arrested at the border and then deported by ICE after administrative proceedings in the United States. The remaining 31%, about 300,000 people, were arrested inside the country, often after living in US communities for several years.
The share of arrests carried out on US territory rose from 28% of deportations in 2025 to 34% in the first half of 2026, and then to 39% in July. Excluding people directly turned back at the border by CBP, 61% of those deported by ICE had lived in the United States for at least two years and 15% for at least 10 years, the MPI says.
