The White House shared photos of hundreds of illegal immigrants being deported to their home countries within days of US President Donald Trump’s resumption in office for his second term. It shared on X, “Just as he promised, President Trump is sending a strong message to the world, those who enter the United States illegally will face serious consequences.”
White House through a post on X mentioned the details of the deportation of illegal migrants stating the number of arrests to be 538 with 373 detainers being lodged.
White House aligned with the ideas of Trump claiming illegal migration to be the cause of the escalation of crime in the nation shared the background of certain migrants being convicted of criminal offenses such as rape and sexual abuses inflicted on children.
White House wrote on X, “This is merely a small preview into the work the Trump administration is doing to secure our nation’s borders.”
Further, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security authorized agents to Undertake arrests at sensitive locations like schools, churches, and businesses, reversing a Biden administration order denying the permission to make arrests in sensitive areas.
During his election campaign, Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigration and signed executive orders to deport ‘criminal aliens’ shortly after assuming office on January 20.
Subsequent to taking office, Trump declared a ‘national emergency’ at the southern US border, announced an increased deployment of troops on the US-Mexico border, and canceled refugee resettlement. Moreover, he indicated plans to prosecute officials who do not enforce the new immigration policies.
Karoline Leavitt, Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary also took to X and shared the photos of the deportation and captioned: “Deportation flights have begun. President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council denied the Trump administration’s claims of this being the beginning of the deportation flights. He shared on X, “Over the last 5 years, ICE has carried out 1,778 deportation flights to Guatemala.” He added, “The claim that “deportation flights have begun” is the purest of propaganda. Guatemala is already the single largest receiver of deportation flights on the planet.”
He also shared the number of removal flights to Guatemala by year during the Biden administration. According to his data, 508 flights were deported in 2024, 470 in 2023, 369 in 2022, and 184 in 2021, with deportations being lower in 2021 due to COVID.
