Donald Trump continued deportations of illegal immigrants in the United States after assuming office for a second term.[12] Trump's agenda promised to launch "the largest deportation program in American history", but actual numbers of ICE arrests and deportations under Trump have lagged the Biden administration.[13][14][15]
On January 23, 2025, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began to carry out raids on sanctuary cities, with hundreds of illegal immigrants detained and deported. The Trump administration reversed previous policy and gave ICE permission to raid schools, hospitals and places of worship.[16][17] The use of deportation flights by the U.S. has created pushback from some foreign governments, particularly Colombia.[18] The Trump administration has also discussed the potential re-opening of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to incarcerate migrants.[19][20] The use of Guantanamo Bay comes with a great financial cost. The running Guantanamo Bay detention camp has historically cost "half a billion dollars per year".[21] Despite the amount of funds, Guantanamo Bay has proven to negatively impact the health of detainees through U.S. reputational harm. This has led to controversy on how to support the detainees "protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms".[22]
Trump had discussed mass deportations during his presidential campaign in 2016,[26][27] during his first presidency, and in his 2024 campaign.[28][29] At the time of his first campaign, approximately one-third of Americans supported the idea—but by the start of his second term, eight years later, public opinion had undergone a shift, with a majority of Americans believing all illegal immigrants should be deported.[30]
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