Number of deportations under Trump

1. DHS’s public claims: half‑million to more than six hundred thousand removals

DHS communications released throughout 2025 repeatedly stated large removal totals—announcing "more than 527,000" removals in October, "more than 605,000" in early December, and later claiming "more than 622,000" deportations as part of a broader tally that included roughly 1.9 million self‑deportations, yielding DHS’s headline figure of more than 2.5 million people leaving the U.S. in the administration’s first year ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

2. Independent press and analysts: earlier, smaller tallies and caution about DHS data transparency

Mainstream outlets and analysts reported smaller figures earlier in the year and highlighted the difficulty of independently verifying DHS totals after the department curtailed its traditional statistical reporting; for example, Reuters noted statements placing removals around 200,000 over a four‑month span and that DHS stopped issuing detailed enforcement reports, complicating comparisons to prior administrations ^{[4] [5]}. Time summarized that by late spring the administration itself had acknowledged lower cumulative numbers—"more than 139,000" by the end of April—while analysts warned the pace would need to accelerate dramatically to meet administration targets ^[6].

3. Where the numbers diverge: removals vs. self‑deportations vs. returns, and methodological opacity

DHS’s public framing bundles formal removals, voluntary "self‑deportations" incentivized through messaging and programs like the CBP Home app, and returns of border arrivals into sweeping tallies that blur categories, while migration researchers note DHS undercut routine public breakdowns that previously allowed researchers to separate removals, returns, and voluntary departures—making apples‑to‑apples comparisons with earlier years difficult ^{[2] [7] [5]}.

4. Independent datasets and watchdogs: signs of ramped arrests but mixed removal outcomes

Nonprofit projects and watchdog reporting document a sharp rise in ICE arrests and detention activity—more than 1,000 ICE arrests per day concentrated in cooperating jurisdictions, and spikes in interior arrests—yet those increases do not automatically translate into equivalent increases in finalized deportations according to analyses that rely on ICE and court data ^{[8] [9]}. PBS and other outlets have highlighted high arrest counts in early months but also reported individual cases and legal challenges that complicate large‑scale removal operations ^{[10] [9]}.

5. Political messaging and incentives behind the tallies

DHS press releases are explicitly political communications that frame mass departures—both removals and voluntary exits—as a vindication of administration policy, even offering monetary and travel incentives in government messaging to encourage voluntary departures; analysts and advocacy groups warn these releases serve a policy narrative and may exaggerate or conflate categories to create a headline number ^{[2] [1] [11]}.

6. Bottom line: a defensible, sourced answer and its limits

Using only the supplied reporting, the defensible answer is that DHS claimed between roughly 527,000 removals by late October and as many as 622,000+ removals by mid‑December of 2025, while independent outlets and researchers reported much lower earlier counts and caution that DHS stopped routine public data releases—so independent verification of the exact number of formal deportations under Trump’s second administration remains constrained by DHS’s changed reporting practices ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}.