Immigration Enforcement Update: 7.3K Deportations Under Trump Administration

Immigration Enforcement Update: 7.3K Deportations Under Trump Administration

By Staff Reporter |

Over 7,300 illegal aliens have been deported in President Donald Trump’s first week in office, per the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

DHS published this latest dataset on Monday. Following Trump’s inauguration, DHS and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began posting daily updates with immigration enforcement totals.

DHS reported that among these 7,300 apprehensions were “hundreds of convicted criminals” for crimes such as sexual assault and rape, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault and battery, drugs and weapons offenses, domestic violence, suspected terrorism, firearms trafficking, kidnapping, vehicular manslaughter, driving while impaired, and possession of an illegal substance. 

This latest update follows the Senate’s confirmation of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem last Saturday as Trump’s DHS secretary.

“Ensuring Americans’ safety and securing the border is President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s top priority,” stated DHS. 

DHS also reported that their novel implementation of deportation flights returned many of these detained illegal aliens to Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, and El Salvador.

In remarks made Monday during the House GOP’s annual Congressional Institute conference, Trump declared his administration’s use of military planes for deportations marked a historic approach to U.S. immigration enforcement.

“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came — and made clear to every country they will be taking back their people,” said Trump. 

Per data provided by ICE in their daily enforcement updates, as of Monday there were over 3,500 arrests and 2,650 detainers lodged since Trump took office. 

Under Trump, immigration and law enforcement officials have also begun “enhanced targeted operations” on major hotspots for illegal aliens. On Sunday, ICE announced a partnership on such an operation with the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, and Marshals Service to enforce immigration law in Chicago, Illinois. 

“For the record: targeted enforcement operations are planned arrests of known criminal aliens who threaten national security or public safety,” stated ICE.

Chicago considers itself a “sanctuary city.” Chicago and other cities which adopted this status are now under investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, per a letter sent to local leaders on Monday. Other sanctuary cities named in that letter were New York City, New York; Denver, Colorado; and Boston, Massachusetts.

Although Phoenix declined years ago to declare itself a sanctuary city officially, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego maintains a position similar to those maintained by sanctuary city leaders. Last November, in the weeks following Trump’s election, Gallego declared that no city resources would be used for mass deportation efforts.  

“I can say without equivocation that as long as I’m mayor, Phoenix will not use its police department—or any city resources whatsoever—to assist in mass deportation efforts by the Trump Administration,” said Gallego in a statement to Arizona’s Family.

Phoenix Police Department policy set years ago requires sergeant approval prior to contacting ICE.

Reportedly, Phoenix city leaders plan to meet privately for legal advice on the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The Department of Justice issued a three-page memo last week directing U.S. attorneys to investigate any state and local officials who refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands or requests,” read the memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. 

The Trump administration put in a workaround to these refusals by major cities on immigration enforcement. Several days after Trump’s inauguration, then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued an internal memo granting immigration enforcement authority to law enforcement agents throughout various agencies, as reported exclusively by The Wall Street Journal.

Days later, the Phoenix office of the DEA announced its partnership with the DOJ and DHS in carrying out illegal alien apprehensions. Like its federal peers, the Phoenix DEA has taken to posting about their work with greater frequency since their Sunday announcement of a federal partnership.

Like Phoenix city leadership, Tucson’s city leaders vowed in a press release to not participate in any federal immigration enforcement efforts. 

In his first week in office, Trump’s administration also ended the CBP One app enabling illegal entry into the border, and repealed ex-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ memo limiting ICE agents.

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Rep. Ciscomani Named Vice Chair Of Homeland Security Appropriations Committee

Rep. Ciscomani Named Vice Chair Of Homeland Security Appropriations Committee

By Daniel Stefanski |

A southern Arizona lawmaker received an influential assignment on Capitol Hill this week.

U.S. Congressman Juan Ciscomani announced that he had been named the Vice Chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee by the Chairman, Tom Cole from Oklahoma.

In a statement, Ciscomani said, “I am honored to be selected as Vice Chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which is responsible for funding the Department of Homeland Security. As Representative to a border district, this position will give me more influence to address the number one issue for my constituents – securing the Southern border.”

Ciscomani added, “I deeply appreciate Chairman Cole for his trust, and I look forward to working with him, Chairman Amodei, colleagues in Congress, and President Trump to reverse course after four years of chaos. We must support our personnel in the Department of Homeland Security and protect our communities.”

Chairman Cole said, “Congressman Ciscomani has been a champion for border security, and I am proud to name him as Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security. His experience and expertise will be crucial as we work to secure the southern border and support the brave men and women who serve in the Department of Homeland Security.”

In addition to his assignment on the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Ciscomani also serves on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Congressman Ciscomani is also a member of the Border Security Caucus, Western Caucus, Taiwan Caucus, and School Choice Caucus.

This past November, Ciscomani was re-elected to his second term in office to the southern Arizona congressional district. He was sworn into office earlier this month.

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

Deportation Is Necessary To Undo The Harm Done At The Border

Deportation Is Necessary To Undo The Harm Done At The Border

By Dr. Thomas Patterson |

Democrats in the last election insisted that re-electing them was necessary to “protect our democracy.” But it turns out that for many of them, democracy only deserves protection when the democratic process produces their preferred result.

Prop. 314 was proposed to allow police to arrest immigrants who don’t cross the border at a legal point of entry and to deny public benefits to illegal immigrants. It was approved by over 60% of the voters. Sounds like democracy at work, right?

Not to Phoenix councilmember-elect Anna Hernandez, who vowed that the “Phoenix Council must move immediately to protect immigrant refugee residents in the city from the violence of 314… I am ready for this fight.” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, like many others, was also on board with the resistance, promising that neither the Phoenix Police Department nor “any city resources whatsoever” would be involved in enforcing this particular law. So much for respecting the democratic process.

Yet more Americans are beginning to realize our immigration policy sorely needs major corrections. In 1995, the Chairwoman of the Commission on Immigration Reform, Barbara Jordan, herself a civil rights icon, told Congress, “Deportation is crucial. Credibility in immigration policy can be summarized in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave…For the system to be credible, people have to be deported at the end of the process.”

She’s right. There is no way to fix Kamala’s “broken immigration system,” (her words) that doesn’t involve deportation to undo the damage done.

Here’s where we are. The low hanging fruit is the 1.3 million aliens who have been given their due process and are legally qualified for deportation. They are part of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “non-detain docket” of 7 million aliens, including criminals, who have not yet been processed but otherwise are eligible for deportation. Congress already has authorized ICE to deport all these individuals.

The obstacle is that their “recalcitrant” home countries refuse to provide the travel documents needed for the return of their own nationals. (Hmm. Wonder why.). The Supreme Court has ruled that all those, even the criminals, who are not deported within six months must be released.

However, under U.S. law, once the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has notified the State Department that a foreign country “denies or unreasonably delays” the return of its nationals, the Secretary of State must order consular officials to discontinue granting all visas to that country. That would surely get the attention of “recalcitrant” like China and India. Yet the Biden/Harris administration, ever loathe to stem the inflow of future Democrats, refused.

Despite the massive surge at the border following the 2021 inauguration, fewer than half as many aliens were removed by the Biden/Harris administration as during the previous four years. Instead, they alternated between laughably claiming the border was safely closed and that the only way to “fix” the problem was a comprehensive amnesty program combined with greater funding at the border but only to expedite the processing of immigrants.

There are other remedies that would mitigate the damage. The DHS secretary is allowed by law to require all aliens without a green card to be registered and fingerprinted. This would not only get a handle on the “gotaways” and criminals who have melted into the population. History suggests it would also trigger voluntary departures.

Finally, we could enforce the E-Verify program and compel employers to check on their workers’ immigration status. Many employers prefer cheap, compliant employees, but the long-term costs to our nation are too great. Absent the economic incentives, both public and private, few illegal immigrants would remain.

We are inviting many long-term economic and political problems by accommodating a cohort that will inevitably demand increased government support as they age. But more importantly, the Rule of Law is our legacy as Americans, the key to our freedom and prosperity. Ignoring the law at our border is a horrible mistake.

Border control and deportation don’t require more funds, more laws, or military action. It is a matter of simply enforcing the law for the protection of us all.

Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.

Reps. Biggs, Crane Fail To Convince Colleagues To Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

Reps. Biggs, Crane Fail To Convince Colleagues To Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

By Corinne Murdock |

Reps. Andy Biggs (R-05) and Eli Crane (R-02), along with other House Republicans, failed to convince their colleagues to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis.

Biggs asserted that Mayorkas was in violation of the separation of powers, citing the secretary’s inaction on the removal of over one million illegal immigrants eligible for deportation, and neglect of Title 8.

“That has resulted in great injury to our communities, and that is why he must be impeached, because he falls within the definition of one of the Founders, James Iredell said, and he’s right on the money,” said Biggs.

Despite the number of illegal immigrant crossings and drug trafficking reaching unprecedented record highs under President Joe Biden, Mayorkas has maintained that the border crisis originated from decades of congressional inaction rather than the policy of this current administration.

Mayorkas and other Democratic leaders support the $118 billion Senate bill described as a border bill, though a majority of the funding goes to Ukraine and other countries.  

Lawmakers opposed to the bill pointed out its increased leniency for illegal immigration, such as a provision allowing those who either make it over 100 miles or remain longer than 14 days in the country to avoid deportation. The bill also would create a new, nonimmigrant visa subcategory enabling noncitizens to visit family members, as well as removing illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico or Canada out of total encounters.

The bill also included another $60 billion for Ukraine, while providing just over $20 billion for the border, over $14 billion for Israel, $10 billion in humanitarian aid, over $6 billion for a variety of over projects, nearly $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific, and over $2 billion for the Red Sea conflict. 

President Joe Biden claimed the bill wasn’t perfect: not because it didn’t close the border more for illegal immigration, but because it didn’t go far enough to grant citizenship for those illegal immigrants within the country.

Some lawmakers have argued that Mayorkas would ignore limited enforcement measures passed.

During Tuesday’s debate on Mayorkas’ impeachment, Crane accused the secretary of that very inaction on immigration enforcement.

“How many Americans have to die of fentanyl, MS-13 gang members, having their kids raped and murdered?” asked Crane. “It’s high time that [Mayorkas] be held accountable for his complete dereliction of duty at our southern border.” 

Rep. Greg Stanton (D-04), in a joint statement with the New Democrat Coalition (NDC), called the impeachment a “sham,” and blamed Republicans for the state of the border. 

Three Republicans — Reps. Ken Buck (CO), Mike Gallagher (WI), and Tom McClintock (CA) — joined Democrats in defeating the impeachment measure, 214-216. 

However, House GOP leadership say that Tuesday’s vote wouldn’t be the last attempt at impeaching Mayorkas. A spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA) said he plans to whip more votes.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Mayorkas Admits Most Illegal Immigrants Are Released Into U.S.

Mayorkas Admits Most Illegal Immigrants Are Released Into U.S.

By Daniel Stefanski |

Most illegal immigrants crossing the border are released into the United States.

In a recent meeting with federal officials that was broadcasted by Fox News journalist Bill Melugin, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reportedly “admitted that the current release rate for migrants caught crossing the border illegally is ‘above 85%.’”

Melugin added context in a later post, divulging his conversation with a DHS official on background, which did not amount to a denial of Mayorkas’ admission to Border Patrol agents. The Fox News reporter was able to share an official statement from the department, that read, “After the ending of Title 42 in May, through the end of the fiscal year, DHS removed or returned more noncitizens without a basis to remain in the United States than in any other five-month period in the last ten years. In fact, the majority of all Southwest Border migrant encounters throughout this Administration have been removed, returned, or expelled – the majority of them. We are doing everything we can, within a broken system, to incentivize noncitizens to use lawful pathways, to impose consequences on those who do not, and to reduce irregular migration.”

The crisis at America’s southern border has deteriorated out of control in the past year, after steadily expanding in the first two years of the Biden administration. In Fiscal Year 2021, which Biden inherited, there were 1,734,686 encounters at the Southwest Border. In FY 2022, there were 2,378,944 apprehensions, and then 2,475,669 in the just-completed fiscal year (2023) – a record number. Already in FY 2024, there have been 483,404 arrests of illegal immigrants – with December’s reported number of over ‘300,000’ encounters still outstanding from CBP’s official chart.

While these apprehension numbers are concerning, the figures do not represent the worst of the situation at the border. Almost two million ‘gotaways’ have been estimated to have entered the country since Biden took office in January 2021. Also, the amount of fentanyl seized at the border has increased over the years, leading to educated speculation that much more of this deadly drug is finding its way around law enforcement and into communities from coast to coast.

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.