Since his return to the presidency, Donald Trump has radically transformed U.S. immigration policy.
About five months into his second term, the administration has already caused a 25% increase in the number of people held in immigration detention, according to the latest data provided by the Department of Homeland Security to TIME.
Until recently, the pace of deportations was largely similar to what was observed under Biden. But since April, that trend has shifted. According to figures shared by Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin with TIME, over 207,000 migrants have been deported — a number significantly higher than the 139,000 announced just a month earlier, signaling a major acceleration.
For comparison, the 2024 fiscal year recorded a total of 271,484 deportations. The Trump administration aims to surpass that.
In May, ICE increased the number of removal flights, suggesting that the coming weeks could see an even sharper rise in forced departures. This marks a clear break from the previous administration under Joe Biden.
Rather than focusing on newly arrived migrants at the border, the Trump administration is now primarily targeting those already living in the U.S.
ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents have stepped up arrests in workplaces, homes, and even courthouses, filling detention centers across the country. This escalation has sparked protests in Los Angeles, according to local officials cited by TIME, further fueled by Trump’s controversial decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines.
The goal is to deport nearly all legal and undocumented immigrants.
In an interview with TIME, the U.S. president said he aimed to deport as many as 15 million people, even considering the use of the military — despite restrictions under the Posse Comitatus Act.
But these objectives are difficult to achieve. Deporting people who are integrated into local communities is a complex, lengthy, and costly process.
To address this, the administration has requested $168 billion from Congress as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” — five times the current $33 billion budget, according to TIME.
Tom Homan, Trump’s immigration advisor, told TIME he wants to double ICE’s detention capacity, increasing it from 50,000 to 100,000 beds. This strategy would allow for a faster pace of both arrests and removals.
But there remains a logistical challenge: where to send the deported individuals? The administration has already sent some migrants to the high-security Mariona prison in El Salvador or the Guantánamo Bay military base in Cuba. Others have been flown to Panama or South Sudan. According to TIME, the U.S. is also in negotiations with three more countries to accept deportees.
Realizing how difficult it would be to deport all immigrants, the Trump administration has turned to another strategy: “voluntary deportation.”
An unprecedented campaign has been launched to pressure immigrants into returning to their countries of origin.
Migrants who agree to leave receive $1,000 and a free plane ticket. This initiative has been described as “unprecedented” by Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. “Once they realized that mass deportations weren’t easy to carry out, they started selling the idea of self-deportation on a scale probably never seen in American history,” he told TIME.
While the Trump administration’s deportation goals face logistical, legal, and human challenges, one thing is clear: U.S. immigration policy is entering an era of unprecedented coercion, with profound implications for millions of people living on American soil.
