Two decades of US deportation numbers reveal differences in administrations

CHICAGO (WLS) -- One week into his second term, President Donald Trump is making good on campaign promises of deportations. Arrests were made in Chicago over the weekend.

To make his administration's actions the "largest mass deportation in history" as he's said he will do, Trump has a high bar to clear.

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In an edited highlight reel released by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, officers are seen executing long promised deportation operations around Chicago on Sunday.

A Northwestern University deportation expert tells the I-Team this is all part of the plan.

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"They want to prioritize the television image of deportation over the on the ground facts of deportation," said Northwestern University Deportation Research Clinic Prof. Jacqueline Stevens.

According to ICE, the on-the-ground facts are this:

• The Immigration agency says it arrested 956 people nationwide on Sunday, 1,179 on Monday, and more than 3,400 since Trump took office one week ago.


• Department of Homeland Security data collected over the last 20 years shows immigrant removals spiked at 432,000 in 2013 under President Obama.


• In his busiest year, President Trump oversaw 347,000 in 2019.


• The Biden Administration removed 329,000 immigrants in 2024, the most of his term.

Stevens has been tracking deportation policy since 2007. She says, "Under Obama in particular, he was trying to persuade the Republican members of Congress that he was serious about enforcing the deportation laws in exchange for the Republicans supporting comprehensive immigration reform."

Trump has deputized multiple federal agencies beyond just ICE to follow through on mass deportations.

Local law enforcement in Illinois is prohibited by law from helping execute federal immigration operations.

"It should be carried out in a way that does not disrupt communities, that does not pit law enforcement against one another, and does not compromise public safety," said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

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With the work of advocacy groups and "know your rights" campaigns on the ground, activists say raids may not amount to round-ups.

Because these operations have been so widely publicized, deportation experts say fewer may open the door when agents knock, leading to fewer detentions than during Trump's first term.

Raoul says no one from the Trump administration has reached out to his office for any kind of collaboration or advanced warning from federal officials.