The Saluda GOP gives Trump a B for deportations
Overview of Trump’s Deportation Efforts
Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump’s second-term immigration agenda has emphasized mass deportations, targeting over 10 million unauthorized immigrants with a focus on criminals. As ICE targets criminals, they also pickup other non-criminals that they encounter along the way.
Trump’s administration has used executive actions, increased funding (e.g., $75 billion for ICE via the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”), military involvement at the border and interior, and incentives for self-deportation.
By December 7, 2025—nearly 11 months in—efforts have accelerated arrests and detentions, dramatically reduced border crossings, and prompted a record number of exits.
Taken together, forced removals + voluntary exits = over 2 million illegals have left the US under Trump.
Once logistics, court challenges, and capacity constraints are remedied, it is expected that exits will increase dramatically.
Update: September 22, 2026
Trump appeared to back down somewhat on deportations when he replaced Kristi Noem with Markwayne Mullin. Mullin sometimes appears to have a softer stance on deportations than Trump initially did, but it is hard to tell.
The pressure on this issue continues, even among some Republicans, especially Maria Salazar.
On balance, we give Trump a grade of B, mainly on effort and less on the results so far. We still trust deportations will increase now that the Supreme Court has decided favorably for Trump on some of the major issues that have arisen.
