Fact check: How many illegals entered during Trump's first administration?

1. Summary of the results

The analyses reveal a significant gap in available data regarding the specific question asked. None of the sources provide a direct answer to how many undocumented immigrants entered the United States during Trump's first administration (2017-2021). Instead, the sources focus on enforcement actions and deportations during Trump's current second term.

The available data shows enforcement statistics from Trump's second administration:

• ICE arrested over 100,000 people suspected of violating immigration law from January 20 to early June 2025 ^[1]
• During the first 100 days of Trump's second term, ICE arrested 66,463 undocumented immigrants and removed 65,682 individuals ^[2]
• The current administration has set a goal of deporting 1 million immigrants annually ^[3]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks crucial context about the complexity of immigration data collection and the distinction between different types of immigration statistics. Several important perspectives are missing:

Data Collection Challenges: The sources suggest that comprehensive entry data for undocumented immigrants is inherently difficult to track, as unauthorized border crossings are not systematically recorded in the same way as legal entries ^{[4] [5]}.

Policy vs. Entry Numbers: The analyses focus heavily on Trump administration policies rather than entry statistics, including the expansion of expedited removal authority and deployment of military troops to the southern border ^[4]. This suggests that policy discussions often overshadow actual numerical data in immigration discourse.

Current vs. Historical Focus: The sources demonstrate a clear bias toward covering current enforcement actions rather than providing historical data from Trump's first term. Media organizations and policy institutes benefit from focusing on immediate, newsworthy enforcement actions rather than conducting comprehensive historical analysis ^{[1] [6] [7]}.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains several problematic elements:

Loaded Language: The use of the term "illegals" is politically charged language that dehumanizes undocumented immigrants. This terminology choice suggests a particular ideological framing rather than neutral inquiry ^{[5] [8]}.

Assumption of Available Data: The question assumes that precise entry numbers for undocumented immigrants during Trump's first term are readily available and commonly reported, when the analyses show this data is not systematically tracked or reported ^{[1] [4]}.

Conflation of Metrics: The question may conflate different immigration statistics - entries, apprehensions, deportations, and arrests - which are distinct measurements. The sources show that current reporting focuses on enforcement actions rather than entry statistics ^{[2] [7]}.

Missing Temporal Context: The question fails to acknowledge that immigration patterns and data collection methods may have changed between Trump's first and second administrations, making direct comparisons potentially misleading ^{[3] [8]}.