Last Updated on February 21, 2025
President Donald Trump is replacing acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Caleb Vitello. The move was reportedly sparked by Trump’s disappointment with underwhelming arrest numbers.
President Trump aims to create the largest deportation force in American history. However, since taking office, his administration has only managed to execute a few thousand deportations. Although Vitello will continue to manage deportations and arrests at a ground level, Trump believes that there needs to be a change in leadership at the agency, with ICE expected to introduce a new acting director soon.
A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security, responsible for overseeing ICE, has framed the situation positively by stating that Caleb Vitello is being promoted. He will no longer be in an administrative capacity but will oversee all field and enforcement operations including locating, apprehending, and deporting undocumented immigrants.
President Donald Trump is aiming to exceed the deportation numbers set by Dwight Eisenhower. He is leading a widespread federal initiative to locate and expel the millions of undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States. While Trump’s deportation efforts are making progress, the question remains whether he can achieve his goal of surpassing Eisenhower’s record.
“We began the largest deportation operation in American history. Larger even than that of President Dwight D. Eisenhower,” President Trump said Thursday in his speech at a Republican Governors Association (RGA) gathering. “You know, he was sort of a moderate guy. But he was very strong on the fact he didn’t want people pouring in to our country from all over the world. He was very tough. He had the record. We now have the record. It’s not a record I’m really proud of. You don’t like to do that. But we have no choice.”
President Trump also compared his deportation program to Eisenhower’s at a recent Turning Point USA event.
Dwight Eisenhower does not usually get credit for the deportation record because there are conflicting reports about how many illegal immigrants he actually forced to leave the United States. Sadly, Grok claims that Barack Obama holds the record for most total deportations by a president. The Obama administration kicked out more than 2.5 million foreigners over two terms, but also welcomed in a massive amount of illegal immigrants that never got deported. In his first term, President Trump deported approximately 1.5 million immigrants.
But Dwight Eisenhower’s legendary “Operation Wetback” in 1954 set the record that President Trump aspires to beat. Dwight Eisenhower launched a government operation in June 1954 to kick out Mexican migrants and for the next few months he righteously terrified illegals in Texas, California, and Arizona.
So how many folks did Dwight Eisenhower deport in that magical several-month span? On the topic of Operation Wetback, MSNBC wrote:
Nonetheless the government claimed over 1.3 million people had been deported and that the monthslong operation was a “success,” saying “the so-called ‘wetback’ problem no longer exists” and that “the border has been secured.” But historians say the number of people who were actually deported was more like 300,000 — a fraction of the 1.3 million the government claimed — which included an unknown number of American citizens.
President Trump has his work cut out for him to catch up to Dwight. According to Grok:
According to statements from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released around February 4, 2025, approximately 5,693 illegal immigrants were deported or removed to 121 countries in the first two weeks of the administration, spanning from Inauguration Day (January 20, 2025) to February 3, 2025. This figure comes from a DHS announcement highlighting the initial efforts of Trump’s immigration enforcement push. Further details indicate that by mid-February 2025, the administration’s deportation activities continued, though exact totals beyond the initial two-week period are less clear due to varying reports and the evolving nature of the operations. For instance, posts on X and some news sources suggest that over 5,000 immigrants were removed by early February, with specific claims of 1,300 deportations cited in late January, including over 1,000 criminals. However, these numbers are not consistently detailed across all sources, and comprehensive, official tallies from ICE or DHS up to February 20, 2025, are not fully consolidated in the available data. Given the current date of February 20, 2025, and the administration’s stated pace—averaging around 400 deportations per day in late January according to The Washington Post—it’s reasonable to estimate that the total could be approaching or exceeding 10,000 deportations by now, assuming a sustained effort. However, this is an extrapolation based on early trends, as ICE statistics reported a dip to about 325 arrests per day in early February, suggesting fluctuations in operational capacity and focus. For a precise figure, the latest concrete number is the 5,693 deportations reported through February 3, 2025.
President Trump has a lot of time left in his presidency to set deportation records. It’s certainly comforting to know that he wants to cement his place in history. President Trump is a very competitive man.
