January 2025 marked the start of President Trump’s second term in office. While campaigning for his presidency, Trump set deportation goals for once he became president, and a month into his term, efforts to achieve them are prominent.

In the month since Trump had taken office, approximately more than 37,660 undocumented immigrants have been deported. This number is less than the monthly average of 56,000 under Biden’s administration, but there are other differences with Trump’s agenda despite the statistics.

Donald Trump hopes to deport 1,000 undocumented immigrants a day which has failed to have been met because most illegal immigrants were deported under Biden’s term. Nevertheless, with this numerical goal in mind, Trump has fired the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director because of the failure to meet the quota. However, the average is expected to increase in the following months, which comes with the likelihood of more complications along with those that have already occurred.

In the entanglements of arresting illegal criminals, ICE, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, is detaining and deporting innocent families, along with U.S. citizens. For instance, many Native Americans are being profiled, with one family in Milwaukee being detained. This is not a new mistake of ICE’s considering between 2015 and 2020 624 citizens were arrested, 120 were detained and 70 were transported. Not to mention, each arrest and further deportation ranges up to spending 6-10 thousand dollars of tax money. These unlawful arrests are wasting several millions of dollars, and in response, Trump is motioning for Congress to increase deportation funding by 175-200 million dollars and to make the efforts of arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants without having a criminal history easier.

Once the illegal immigrants are detained and arrested, the circumstances do not get better for them. 4,094 people were deported to Mexico in January, but not all were Mexican. The illegal people went from being illegal in one country to another, because the executioning of the process was not treated with care and attentiveness once the concern of meeting the quota comes into consideration. But if not wrongfully placed in a country, the rest of the individuals are set to go to a camp on Guantanamo Bay, an American “prison-like” naval base in Cuba that was originally imprisoning the suspects involved in 9/11. Trump’s agenda is for this base to hold over 30,000 people, but since it is too small for that capacity, Trump hopes to expand it.

In the wake of these mass deportations, uproar from some American citizens empathetic to the atrocities have shown their oppositions. Once Trump had allowed for immigration arrests to be held at hospitals, schools, and churches, protests swept the nation. Immigrants around the country on February 2nd refused to show up for their jobs, causing many businesses to close, while protesters advocated for change in major cities, campuses, and highways; one of these protests caused the closing of the 101 freeway in Los Angeles.

Despite the efforts made and refutations, children are still being withheld an education from fearing attending school, tax money is being spent rapidly, and policing efforts are being focused on deporting undocumented people. The country is being divided metaphorically and literally.

Claudia Sheinbaum acknowledges non-citizens deported from US to Mexico

The Chilling Effect of Trump’s Indiscriminate Immigration arrests and Propaganda

Trump Wants to Hold Up to 30,000 detained migrants at Guantanamo Bay. Here’s What to Know

‘A Day Without Immigrants’: Protests Against Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans Across the US

Rep. Jamie Raskin demands details on U.S. citizens caught up in ICE enforcement 

Trump deporting people at a slower rate than Biden’s last year in office