Media alarmism: Trump's 'mass deportations,' a common practice in past administrations

Since the beginning of President Donald Trump's second term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stepped up its operations against criminal illegal immigrants. The government has begun publishing daily reports on the number of criminal illegal aliens arrested or placed under immigration detainers(nearing deportation, expulsion or removal).

The move should surprise no one, since, mass -misnamed- deportation was always part of Trump's campaign promises. But it is that, it is estimated that in the nation there are more than 1,500,000 criminal immigrants running free on the streets -with warrants to appear in courts (but free), others were simply released after committing crimes and are once again on the streets-. They, too, are the president's target.

(The number of criminals does not take into account all illegals who entered the country without a visa (which is considered a crime, since it does not comply with the due process required and demanded by the authorities to enter the United States).)

The calculations are simple, ICE must detain 1,800 criminal illegal aliens daily, which over a four-year period results in just over 2,600,000 individuals with criminal records.

The chaos of the Biden-Harris administration is to blame for everything in the country today. The massive influx of more than 10 million illegal immigrants, the lack of border control, the few containment measures inside the country directly attacked the most important issue which is national security. 

Mass deportations, which were already massive

The numbers of deportations of illegal immigrants in this new Trump era seem to alarm a part of the citizenry and the establishment media. However, they are not so shocking when compared to those presented during the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump (first term) and Joe Biden:

(Figures include removals under concepts of formal removals and return orders).

- Bill Clinton (1993-2001): deportations increased significantly, reaching about 870,000 in 1996 and exceeding 12 million total during his administration.

- George W. Bush (2001-2009): approximately 10 million deportations were recorded during his two terms.

- Barack Obama (2009-2017): set a record with more than 4-5 million deportations.

- Donald Trump (2017-2021): during his first term, more than 1.4 million deportations were carried out.

- Joe Biden (2021-2025): in fiscal year 2024, his administration deported more than 271,000 immigrants, the highest number recorded in a decade. In his entire term there were just over 1.5 million deportations.

In contrast, the figures for Trump's first term are among the lowest among all these administrations (adding the nearly 3 million of this term, he would not surpass Obama). In addition to the fact that almost all of these presidents called for the deportation of criminals without any misgivings. It was former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama who said, "We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws."

The data demonstrates how the media is in charge of upsetting the population and generating media alarmism.