Eighty Percent of Those Deported by Trump Had No Criminal Record, New Analysis Reveals

In the first year and a half of Donald Trump's second term, around 980,000 individuals were deported, with a striking 80% having no prior criminal record, according to a report released Thursday by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), a nonpartisan research organization.

This revelation stands in stark contrast to Trump's prominent campaign pledge that mass deportations would target "the worst of the worst," including murderers, rapists, and gang members.

The study was authored by Marc Rosenblum, who previously led the Office for Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agency responsible for collecting such data.

The Broader Implications of Mass Deportations

The widespread deportations and their impact on millions remain one of today's most pressing issues. Stay updated with comprehensive coverage of U.S. immigration policies.

Of the 20% who did have a criminal history, roughly half of the charges were for minor offenses like traffic violations or illegal border crossings, rather than serious or violent crimes.

"It's not the case that most convictions are for violent or serious offenses," Rosenblum pointed out, adding, "By casting such a wide net to deport as many people as possible, it becomes challenging to focus on deporting as many criminals as possible."

Analysis of Deportation Figures and Policy Shifts

The analysis covers the period from January 20, 2025, to July 31, 2026, utilizing data obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, as the DHS ceased publishing detailed deportation statistics at the start of the term.

The 980,000 deportations fall short of the White House's stated goal of one million annual deportations and are less than the 1.1 million the administration has publicly boasted about.

Highlighting this discrepancy, even when considering only deportations involving criminal records, the numbers during Trump’s second term are lower than those recorded under the Bush and Obama administrations.

Rosenblum acknowledged, "Even with all the resources this administration has allocated to arresting and deporting individuals, when we look at annual comparisons, they fall below the high levels we witnessed during the Bush and Obama years."

Changing Profile of Deported Individuals

Another significant change documented by the MPI analysis is the shift in the profile of those deported: the Trump administration has shifted its focus from newly arrived border crossers to immigrants with years of established roots in the U.S.

Between May and July 2026, the monthly number of deportees who had resided in the U.S. for at least two years increased by 77%, rising from 10,000 to 18,000 cases monthly since the beginning of the term.

The rise was even more dramatic among those who had lived in the country for a decade or more, with these cases surging by 147%, from 2,400 to 6,000 monthly, between the first quarter of 2025 and the summer of 2026.

Altogether, 15% of the 980,000 deported had been in the U.S. for at least ten years, and 61% had lived in the country for a minimum of two years.

Questioning Government Self-Deportation Figures

The report also questions the government’s figures on self-deportations. The DHS has claimed that an additional 2.2 million people left "voluntarily," but Rosenblum's analysis estimates the actual number to be between 790,000 and 1.9 million cases.

Specifically, regarding Cuban nationals, around 12,000 were deported during Trump's second term up until October 2026, according to recent estimates.

Despite the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement budget exceeding those of major federal law and public safety agencies, the criminal deportation results remain lower than those of prior administrations with fewer resources.