During President Donald Trump’s first month back in office thousands of migrants illegally in the country were taken into custody and prepped for deportation.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies and law enforcement partners have conducted raids and arrests of undocumented immigrants all across the country since January 20.
Authorities are on track to more than double the 113,000 arrests the agency made in Fiscal Year 2024 under former President Joe Biden.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the number of arrests was 20,000 in the one-month span from January to February.
A breakdown of who these migrants are is not readily available.
But DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said of those arrested, 22 are suspected terrorists, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Another 640, she notes, are known to be suspected gang members.
Trump vowed to remove the ‘worst of the worst’ illegal immigrants from the U.S. in his mass deportation plan.
White House officials confirmed to DailyMail.com earlier this month that more than 6,000 migrants had been deported in Trump’s first two weeks back in the Oval Office.
At least several hundred migrants were flown to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba recently as Trump planned to use the terrorist prison there to house around 30,000 illegal immigrants as ICE detention facilities approach capacity.
The administration halted housing migrants in tent structures on the base amid concerns the lack of air conditioning and electricity in the temporary facilities fails to meet detention standards, a CNN report notes.
ICE was publishing daily arrest figures with a breakdown of deportation numbers along with the demographics of how many had committed crimes outside of their illegal crossings into the U.S.
The agency stopped widely providing these numbers after the first few days of Trump’s second term – but they periodically disclose estimates to inquiring journalists.
ICE officials told their agents after Trump’s first week back in D.C. that offices are each responsible for 75 arrests every day, which nationwide would amount to approximately 1,500 total.
When numbers were still being reported daily, the highest day for arrested included roughly half with a criminal background.