The mass deportation campaign has been a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s second term. But, as the AP reports, the administration’s data sharing practices make it difficult to know what exactly that looks like.
The Trump administration has touted immigration enforcement goals like deporting 1 million people a year and arresting the “worst-of-the-worst” criminals.
But how that’s bearing out on the ground isn’t clear, because data releases under this administration are less reliable than in previous presidencies.
“When people are saying, ‘oh how does this compare to the Obama administration’ — since Obama was considered the deporter-in-chief — the fact of the matter is, to a certain extent, we actually don’t know,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph is with the Migration Policy Institute.
Bush-Joseph says researchers are increasingly relying on Freedom of Information Act requests and non-government efforts to compile data. But on the government side, even data on the basics — like who’s being arrested, where they’re being arrested and where they’re being deported — is not broken down.
“All of these top line considerations make it harder to evaluate these claims about whether or not they’re really deporting the ‘worst of the worst,’” she said.
A December report from the libertarian think tank Cato Institute used available government data and found the majority of immigrants in ICE detention have no criminal record.
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The American Civil Liberties Union is dropping its bid to block enforcement of a new law that lets state and local police arrest some border crossers. -
ICE’s policy, issued in February 2025, says the agency will expeditiously review body camera footage in the event of serious harm of deaths in custody, and could release it within 72 hours — but only if it's determined that it’s “in the best interests of the agency” to do so. -
Leadership clarified that non-members — including employees or residents, guests of tribal members, travelers on public roadways and vendors tied to the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise — may still travel freely “without any restrictions.” -
Since last year, the Trump administration has awarded billions of dollars in construction contracts for its so-called Smart Wall, and work has been ongoing for months in various parts of Arizona. -
The ruling comes a day after news broke of the government’s plan to offer legal aid to detained immigrant children through a $150 million contract Burke Law Group — a small Texas-based firm with a co-founder who is a former Trump appointee.
