New York Times 1/1725
President Trump has promised to deport millions of people who are living in the United States without permission. This population is commonly referred to as “undocumented,” “unauthorized” or “illegal.” Recent estimates put the number of people without legal status or with temporary protection from deportation at almost 14 million in 2024.
The Biden administration created special pathways for people fleeing humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Ukraine and Venezuela and extended temporary protection from deportation for people from certain countries through a program known as Temporary Protected Status. (TPS) Upon taking office, Mr. Trump issued executive orders stating his desire to end those programs
In addition to TPS the Obama-era program known as DACA protects from deportation about 540,000 undocumented people brought to the country as children.
Out of all those who are unauthorized, Mr. Trump has said the top priority for deportation will be criminals. There are around 655,000 noncitizens living in the U.S. with criminal convictions or pending charges, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, though many of these charges are for minor offenses such as traffic violations.There were about 39,000 immigrants in ICE custody at the end of December, near capacity for holding facilities.
The Trump administration may also focus its enforcement efforts on the nearly 1.4 million people whom an immigration judge has already ordered to be removed from the country. Many of the rest have been living in the country for years and have developed ties to their communities, including having children born in the United States. It would require a significant amount of time and resources to locate and remove them.