Fact check: How many legal aliens have been deported since Jan 20th 2025

1. Summary of the results

The exact number of deportations since January 20th, 2025 is subject to significant discrepancy across different sources:

• ICE reported 28,319 deportations in the first seven weeks (through March 11th) ^[1]
• The Trump administration claimed over 207,000 deportations by late April/early May ^[2]
• A more conservative estimate shows 135,000 people deported in the first 100 days ^[3]
• Initial data showed 5,693 deportations in the first two weeks ^[4]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual elements need to be considered:

• If the current pace continues, deportations would reach approximately 300,000 by year's end, representing a slight increase from 2024 ^[5]
• The previous year ^[6] saw a total of 271,000 deportations ^[3]
• ICE has shifted its focus to arresting more non-criminal immigrants, representing a significant policy change ^[7]
• There's been reduced transparency in tracking precise removal data ^[1]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

Several credibility concerns have been raised:

• Immigration experts have expressed significant skepticism about the administration's higher figures. Notable experts including:
• Austin Kocher (immigration research professor) questioned the possibility of 70,000 deportations occurring in just two weeks
• David Bier from the Cato Institute explicitly denied the possibility of such high numbers ^[8]
• There appears to be confusion between detention and deportation numbers: while DHS reported 113,000 detentions, this doesn't equate to actual deportations ^[8]
• The administration's claims ^{[9] [10]} significantly exceed independently verified numbers ^{[11] [10]}, suggesting possible inflation of statistics for political purposes ^{[2] [3]}