The Department of Homeland Security announced that 1.6 million people who were in the United States illegally have self-deported and another 500,000 have been deported.
The department has been pushing self-deportations, spending millions on ads showing a $1,000 payment and a plane ticket received by people who register to self-deport.
It is unclear how much money in total has been given to people who have self-deported.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS undersecretary for public affairs, said the Trump administration is on track to “shatter” current deportation records.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have revived an agency that was paralyzed and prevented from doing its job for the past four years,” he said in a statement.
A member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Response Team displays a unit patch on his uniform during a protest at ICE headquarters in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 4, 2025.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
“In the face of a historic number of injunctions from activist judges and threats to law enforcement, DHS, ICE and CBP have not only closed the border, they have taken historic steps to fulfill President Trump’s promise to arrest and deport illegal aliens who have invaded our country,” McLaughlin said.
“Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now or face the consequences: migrants are now returning before reaching our borders. Migration through the Darien Gap in Panama has decreased by 99.99%,” he said.
President Donald Trump promised to carry out mass deportations during his 2024 campaign.
Activists have claimed that immigration enforcement has gone too far.
