How many illegal immigrants have been deported under Trump
Executive summary
The number depends on which source and date are used: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has repeatedly released figures claiming anywhere from roughly 139,000 deportations in the administration’s early months to more than 675,000 deportations in later statements, and has combined formal removals with voluntary “self-deportations” to put the broader “left the U.S.” tally at multiple millions [1] [2] [3] [4]. Independent reporters and analysts warn that DHS reporting is inconsistent, that public breakdowns have been curtailed, and that removals documented by ICE remain below some administration goals [5] [6].
1. The administration’s public totals: multiple DHS press releases claim different deportation counts
DHS press statements issued at different times have touted deportation figures that rise over the course of the administration’s first year: an April White House release cited "139,000+" deportations in the first weeks of the term [1], DHS later announced over 527,000 removals in October 2025 [2], and by January 2026 DHS claimed "more than 675,000" deportations and, separately, that over 2.2 million people had self-deported, producing combined headlines of nearly 3 million people leaving the country [3] [4].
2. DHS mixes formal removals, voluntary departures, and program-driven "self-deportations"
Those large “left the U.S.” totals come from combining formal deportations (removals) with voluntary departures and what DHS calls self-deportations—some of which the agency says occurred via incentives like the CBP Home app—so the headline “more than X million left” is not a count solely of formal enforcement">ICE removals but a blended figure the agency promotes [4] [7] [2].
3. Independent data and analysts caution about transparency and comparability
Nonpartisan analysts and news organizations emphasize that the federal government under this administration has stopped regularly publishing the usual detailed removals breakdowns, making year‑to‑year comparisons and verification difficult; Migration Policy Institute notes DHS has not publicly broken down removals versus returns or detailed voluntary departures under the CBP app [6], and PolitiFact‑style analysis reports that available figures show the administration remains below its aspirational targets and that overall deportations may be lower than prior administrations’ totals [5].
4. Journalistic investigations and NGO analyses show high arrest volumes but complicated removal flows
Investigations by outlets such as The New York Times document an expansive enforcement apparatus and quantify specific categories of deported people—like thousands of former program beneficiaries and children—while research groups (e.g., the Deportation Data Project and Prison Policy) show very high arrest rates concentrated in collaborating jurisdictions but also note limits on how many of those arrests turn into completed removals [8] [9].
5. Reconciling the question: how many “illegal immigrants have been deported under Trump”?
If “deported” is taken to mean formal DHS/ICE removals, DHS press releases at different times cite figures from roughly 139,000 (early term claims) up to "more than 675,000" deportations by January 2026; independent sources and watchdogs caution that the most verifiable ICE removal counts are lower than some administration-branded totals and that the larger multi‑million figures refer to combined removals plus voluntary departures [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
6. What reporting cannot settle with the provided sources
The assembled reporting does not supply a single, independently verified cumulative count of formal ICE removals for the entire period that unambiguously separates voluntary departures from forcible removals; multiple DHS releases and administration summaries exist, but transparency gaps and different counting conventions mean this answer must rely on the caveat that the precise number of formal deportations remains uncertain in publicly available, consistently disaggregated data [6] [5].
7. Bottom line
Official DHS messaging presents a range: by administration claims, formal deportations number in the hundreds of thousands (figures cited by DHS include roughly 527,000; 605,000; and "more than 675,000" at different times), while combined totals that add voluntary departures reach into the millions [2] [4] [3]. Independent analysts warn those combined totals conflate distinct categories and that independent verification of a single definitive deportation count is limited by DHS’s reporting practices [5] [6].