Since March 2003, U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or “I.C.E,” has been cracking down on deporting immigrants. They have deported hundreds of thousands over the past years. However, Donald Trump plans to skyrocket these numbers during his office exponentially. Trump has sent orders and deportation plans to ICE and FBI agencies to deport more illegal immigrants and migrants. Making immigrants second-guess their future in the U.S. now.
Explaining further, ICE is a federal agency with a mission to keep the US safe from illegal immigration that threatens public safety. To do this, they make mass arrests and deportations, mainly of immigrants who have a criminal record. ICE identifies suspects, arrests them, and then removes them from the US. Citizens report immigrants, or ICE scans the area from databases and field scanning. They formed due to the 9/11 attacks; Homeland Security had to make a move to prevent something like 9/11 from occurring again. In 2003, they were formed and put into effect. Now, they have 20,000 members, 400 offices, and a budget of 8 billion dollars.
The reason why Trump is making ICE put significantly more work in this time than his first time in office is because the number of immigrants entering the US is the highest it’s ever been. Yet ICE’s amount of deportations in the past 5 years has been extremely low, partially due to Biden’s time in office from 2020-2024. From 2008 to 2012, ICE was deporting roughly 200,000 immigrants annually. From 2015 to 2024, they averaged approximately 50,000 deportations per year. With 2021-2022 being as low as 30,000.
Looking back to the present, Trump has caught onto ICE slacking, so he is now initiating raids. “Operation Safeguard” is Trump’s plan to deport migrants in Urban Areas rapidly. This plan involves massive raids. ICE recently raided a property with 100 Venezuelan gang members. These raids are targeted towards more violent immigrants who pose a threat, not mainly to those looking for jobs and deport them. These raids can span anywhere throughout the interior of the US, not just close to the borders.
The key reason why Trump is causing mass deportation is because his supporters, Republicans, and himself believe that migrants can move into the US; they have to enter legally.
He wants to enforce the fact that almost anyone can enter the US legally, but he doesn’t like how immigrants don’t stand by that. Trump also sees how immigrants can take US citizen’s jobs and hurt the country’s economy.
Many US citizens disagree with Trump’s plans and operations. Legal actions and lawsuits are taking place from these harsh plans. On February 2nd, thousands gathered to start a protest called “A Day Without Immigrants.” The protest blocked roads and freeways, disturbing L.A. Immigrants also planned not to go to work, shop, or bring their kids to school to imagine what a day without immigrants would be like as a way to protest. Some Businesses also closed their doors to show their hatred for this new plan. Yet Trump doesn’t care and will still push his aggressive strategy.
