The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday that 2 million illegal aliens have either been deported or self-deported since President Donald Trump took office in January.
According to DHS, the Trump administration is on pace to break deportation records, with projections showing nearly 600,000 deportations by the end of its first year. Of the two million who have left the country in less than 250 days, an estimated 1.6 million departed voluntarily, while more than 400,000 were deported.
The department also highlighted that for the past four consecutive months, US Customs and Border Protection has not released any illegal immigrants into the country.
“The numbers don’t lie: 2 million illegal aliens have been removed or self-deported in just 250 days— proving that President Trump’s policies and Secretary Noem’s leadership are working and making American communities safe,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a public statement. “Ramped-up immigration enforcement targeting the worst of the worst is removing more and more criminal illegal aliens off our streets every day and is sending a clear message to anyone else in this country illegally: Self-deport or we will arrest and deport you.”
DHS also cited a United Nations study showing that Trump administration policies have led to a 97 percent reduction in illegal immigrants attempting to travel from Central America to the United States. Nearly half of would-be illegal immigrants have decided to stop on their trip to the US because they assumed they would be unable to enter the country under Trump’s policies. 46 percent said fears of detention or deportation convinced them to give up trying to cross illegally.
