Donald Trump was elected, in part, due to his promise to deport “millions” of illegal immigrants, but three weeks into his administration the numbers are falling short of expectations and he is “angry.”
“It’s driving him nuts they’re not deporting more people,” a person familiar with Trump’s thinking told NBC News.
So far, the highest number of immigrants arrested in a single day since Trump’s inauguration is 1,100, and that number has steadily declined to about 300 arrest last weekend.
Of note, the figures released by ICE is the number of illegal immigrants placed under arrest, which is not the same as the number of deportees.
To hit Trump’s promise of deporting at least 1 million illegal immigrants, the Trump administration would need to deport more than 2,700 immigrants per day.
In private Trump is pressuring “border czar” Tom Homan, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello, to increase the numbers, according to NBC.
But, in public the Trump administration is blaming the Biden administration for their failure meet deportation goals.
“After four years of the Biden administration’s outright incompetence and negligence, the Trump administration has re-established a no-nonsense enforcement of and respect for the immigration laws of the United States,” Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.
“Hundreds of violent, predatory, and gang-affiliated criminal illegal aliens have already been rounded up and deported by ICE since President Trump took office — and the Trump administration is aligned on securing our borders and ensuring that mass deportations are conducted quickly and effectively to put Americans and America First,” Desai added.
