“Thanks to aggressive enforcement, streamlined deportation protocols, and the restoration of real border security, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have been deported and over 2 million more have self-deported rather than face certain removal,” DHS said.
“And this is only the beginning: the first wave of newly trained ICE agents is beginning to deploy, expanding the administration’s ability to sustain record-high enforcement levels into 2025 and beyond.”
DHS did not give an exact number for the population decline.
In January, there were 53.3 million immigrants in the country, which dipped to 51.9 million in June. Pew said this was the first decline in the U.S. immigrant population since the 1960s.
Exploitation of the Immigration System
In its latest statement, DHS said the Trump administration was restoring integrity to America’s visa system, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) intensifying scrutiny of visa programs.“Under the Trump administration, USCIS has restored robust screening and vetting capabilities, re-emphasized fraud detection and deterrence, and reduced exploitation of the immigration system through humanitarian and Temporary Protected Status programs, including significant achievements in just the past three months alone,” DHS said.
“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said at the time.
“Immigration benefits—including to live and work in the United States—remain a privilege, not a right.”
With the update, DHS will prioritize the “proper screening and vetting” of all immigrants prior to extending their employment authorization, the agency said.
In its latest statement, DHS said that the Trump administration has done what no modern American president has ever attempted—ending the border crisis and restoring control of the nation’s immigration system.
“President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem said we’d secure the border, enforce our laws, reinstate integrity into our immigration system, and protect American jobs, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
Veteran Deportation
Meanwhile, Democrats have criticized the Trump administration over the issue of deporting immigrant veterans. This month, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) reintroduced a package of bills aimed at protecting veterans and service members from being deported from the United States, a Nov. 10 statement by the lawmaker’s office said.One of the bills, the Veterans Visa and Protection Act of 2025, bans the deportation of veterans who are not violent offenders.
Another bill, the Healthcare Opportunities for Patriots in Exile (HOPE) Act of 2025, seeks to allow deported veterans with no history of violence to temporarily parole back into the United States to seek care from a Veterans Affairs facility.
“There is no higher betrayal to our heroes than to be deported by the same nation they sacrificed to defend—but this is what happens when our nation’s immigration policies are rooted more in hate than in logic,” Duckworth said.
“ICE values the contributions of all those who have served in the U.S. military; however, U.S. military service alone does not automatically exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws,” the memo said.
The memo clarified that ICE “will generally not initiate removal proceedings against aliens with U.S. military service who appear eligible for naturalization” in line with relevant immigration laws.
If ICE determines that an immigrant with U.S. military service does not seem to be eligible for such naturalization, the person’s overall criminal history, family ties to the United States, and other factors would be considered by the agency during enforcement, according to the memo.