Trump admin deports over 515,000 illegal immigrants in 2025 so far

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that the agency is “on pace to shatter historic records” by deporting over 600,000 illegal aliens by year’s end. In total, she said, more than two million illegal aliens have left the US this year, including 1.6 million who voluntarily self-deported and over half a million formally removed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Another 485,000 illegal aliens have been arrested by DHS since Trump’s inauguration on January 20. McLaughlin credited Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for “jumpstarting an agency that was vilified and barred from doing its job for the last four years.”

“Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now or face the consequence,” McLaughlin said, pointing to a 99.99 percent drop in migration through Panama’s Darién Gap, a major route for migrants heading toward the US. “Migrants are now even turning back before they reach our borders.”

Despite the ongoing government shutdown, DHS said its latest sweep targeted the “worst of the worst” criminal aliens. Arrests over the weekend included individuals convicted of rape, child assault, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and homicide.

Among those arrested:

• Erick Xavier Romero, a Dominican national convicted of raping a child in Boston.
• German Osvaldo Cortez-Chajon, from Guatemala, convicted of attempting to meet a child for sex in Alabama.
• Graciano Lopez-Flores, from Mexico, convicted of indecent liberties with a child in North Carolina.
• Shahed Hassan, from Bangladesh, convicted of assault, larceny, and gun offenses in Wake County, NC.
• Van Pham, from Laos, convicted of five counts of abduction and burglary in Virginia.
• Patricia Pimental-Cordero, from the Dominican Republic, convicted of two hit-and-run charges in Massachusetts.
• Ramona Mercado-Vasquez, from Dominica, convicted of kidnapping and robbery in New Jersey.
• Karlett Zagal-Salazar, from Mexico, convicted of drug trafficking in Wisconsin.

McLaughlin emphasized that “nothing, not even a government shutdown, will slow us down from making America safe again.” She accused congressional Democrats of obstructing enforcement: “While Democrats in Congress continue to keep the government shutdown, our ICE law enforcement officers aren’t slowing down.”

In a separate briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said her department had made nearly 500,000 arrests of illegal immigrants in just nine months, 70 percent of whom have criminal charges or convictions.

“Today marks nine months since President Trump has been in office and since he began his work to restore American safety,” Noem said. “What he has accomplished for the American people is nothing short of extraordinary.”

Noem also cited a Harvard-Harris poll showing 78 percent of Americans support deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, and 56 percent support deporting all illegal immigrants currently in the U.S.

Among the Florida arrests Noem highlighted were:

• Erick Carlos Artiles Ramos (Cuba): convicted of homicide, kidnapping, DUI, and armed carjacking.
• Oscar Alfredo Retana Marroquin (El Salvador): convicted of sexual assault of a child and DUI.
• Arturo Sanchez Morales (Mexico): convicted of lewd acts with a minor, incest, and DUI.

“Across the country, we’re making communities safer so that families can thrive and enjoy the kind of freedom this country was established to provide,” Noem said.