– The Washington Times
It has long been rumored and denied, but ICE has now made it official: a goal of 1 million deportations a year.
The agency quietly included the number in its budget explanation to Congress several weeks ago. It told lawmakers that it has the “capacity” and “commitment” to deport more illegal immigrants.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also revealed in the document that it ousted 442,637 migrants last year. Just 166,939 of them had criminal records, aside from crossing the border illegally. That is 38%, far below the 70% level the Homeland Security Department has been touting.
ICE said it wants 99,000 deportation beds in use each day this year and next. That is also higher than the agency said in planning documents earlier this year.
The revelations suggest an agency that, despite chaos and missteps over the past 12 months, including the shooting deaths of American civilians and repeated legal battles, remains dedicated to President Trump’s mass deportation mission.
Deporting 1 million people a year was an informal goal set by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. It was dismissed by Homeland Security Department officials, most recently by Secretary Kristi Noem, who flatly rejected the 1 million-migrant mark in testimony to Congress.
“There’s been no discussion of requirement on numerical quota targets,” she told senators before her ouster in March.
The new budget, though, specifically says targets.
“ICE has increased its future annual target to 1,000,000 returns and removals to reflect expanded operational capacity and ongoing commitment to enforcing immigration laws,” the agency wrote.
The agency said its goal for deporting criminals is 500,000 for both this year and next. That works out to a 50% rate. In fiscal 2025, which ended Sept. 30, ICE said it had tallied 166,939 criminal removals or returns out of a total of 442,637 deportations.
ICE said it set a goal of 400,000 immigration-related arrests a year. Last year, it tallied 167,651.
The deportation target includes removals and returns.
A removal is a formal deportation that carries a bar on reentry and potential criminal penalties for those caught trying to reenter.
A return is less severe. It amounts to a migrant’s agreement to return to their home country without putting the government through the time and expense of the formal removal process.
Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies, said using returns gives ICE more tools and lets it offer immigrants more choices to entice them to depart.
It isn’t used for those with serious criminal records or for those who the administration feels need the extra consequences. For those who have only immigration violations or traffic offenses in addition to their unlawful status, it can be a cost-effective way to remove them.
“ICE would rather pay for airline tickets now than detention beds,” Ms. Vaughan said.
The returns also explain a discrepancy in numbers. The Homeland Security Department had been touting deportation totals significantly higher than suggested by ICE’s removal data and Customs and Border Protection’s return numbers.
ICE reported about 330,000 formal removals in fiscal 2025. According to the new budget document, that means about 110,000 others were granted voluntary returns.
Ms. Vaughan said the Obama administration also used returns to enhance its ICE deportation numbers.
Mark Morgan, who served as acting head of ICE and Customs and Border Protection in the first Trump administration and is now part of an effort known as the Mass Deportation Coalition, said the goal should be 1 million formal removals and shouldn’t include returns.
He said he didn’t see much evidence that the administration would meet the goal.
“Unfortunately, the data confirms what the Mass Deportation Coalition has repeatedly been saying: There is not a mass deportation campaign underway,” he told The Washington Times.
R.J. Hauman, president of the National Immigration Center for Enforcement, said thanks to the infusion of cash from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year, ICE already has more than enough money to raise its deportation goals. He said Republicans need to deliver on that.
“Republicans do not want to spend the next six months or so explaining that, with the resources already enacted, they went from running on mass deportation to ‘I ran,’” he said.
As of April 4, a little more than halfway through fiscal 2026, ICE reported 234,236 formal removals. That figure did not include voluntary returns.
Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’s Voice, an immigrant rights group, said the goal of 1 million deportations was “official recognition of what we’ve known: that despite the public’s rejection of the violence and cruelty, Stephen Miller’s campaign continues unabated.”
She added, “While the administration keeps on using the talking point of the ‘worst of the worst,’ the pressure to fulfill quotas ensures that instead they’re going after many long-established people with deeply rooted lives and families here. Like military spouses and college kids traveling home for the holidays and even those who already have some sort of status, like the Venezuelan doctors in South Texas who this administration stripped legal status from and then targeted for detention.”
ICE didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A Homeland Security Department statement touted improvements since the Biden administration was in office.
“Under this administration we are enforcing the laws of this country especially compared to the target numbers under the previous administration,” the department said.
It celebrated Mr. Trump’s overall record on immigration, pointing to “the most secure border in American history” and to what it said were 3 million illegal immigrants who have departed the U.S.
Most of those are believed to have left on their own and aren’t included in the ICE or CBP numbers.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
