Can Trump Really Deport One Million Migrants This Year?

A view of a new temporary shelter in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to accommodate migrants deported from the United States, February 20, 2025. (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The president promised to deport one million migrants in a year. He’s not even close. Here’s why.
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In the first 100-plus days of President Donald Trump’s second term, the administration has deported around 142,000 illegal immigrants. For all the Sturm und Drang over Trump’s deportation policies, the number is lower than the Biden administration deported during the same time a year ago. At this pace, the Trump administration is on track to deport a little over 518,000 illegal immigrants by the end of the year, far fewer than the president’s lofty goal of one million deportations—a shortfall that the legacy media has been quick to point out.
What explains the gap between the numbers Trump promised and the numbers he has delivered so far?
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