The Trump administration is expanding deportation operations nationwide as newly hired Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents deploy across the country.
“We want to really surge those arrest numbers, especially given that One Big, Beautiful Bill that we’ve received the funding to do it,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, according to Newsweek.
“We’re going to be making great progress,” she added.
McLaughlin said DHS received 175,000 job applications for ICE positions as part of the administration’s effort to “get more brave men and women on the ground to do this great work.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act provided a $150 billion funding package for DHS. Nearly $30 billion of that is dedicated to hiring and training ICE agents, including signing bonuses and recruitment incentives.
“What Secretary Noem and President Trump have been able to do is really nothing short of extraordinary,” McLaughlin said. “Our law enforcement has faced demonization — the injunctions from these activist judges, these sanctuary city politicians trying to prevent us time and time again. We’re not giving an inch, and we will deliver on the mandate for the American people.”
According to DHS, the Trump administration has deported more than 527,000 unlawful migrants since taking office. The total number of individuals leaving the country, including voluntary self-deportations, is considerably higher.
“More than 2 million unlawful migrants have left the U.S., including 1.6 million who have voluntarily self-deported and over 527,000 deportations,” McLaughlin said. “Migrants are now turning back before they even reach our borders. Migration through Panama’s Darién Gap is down 99.99%.”
The agency said the decline reflects tougher enforcement policies and international cooperation with border nations.