Multiple outlets reported on Monday that the Trump administration is unable to meet its own goals for deporting migrants and is now planning to shift immigration enforcement in a new, more cruel direction.
The New York Times reported that officials in the administration are frustrated with the current pace of deportations, which is far below Trump’s goal of deporting over a million people in the first year of his new presidency. Sources close to the administration told the outlet the current plans call for replacing Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office leaders with others who will intensify the agency’s widely criticized tactics of invading communities and abducting migrants.
NBC reports that ICE officials will be replaced by officials from Border Patrol. The Border Patrol has been at the forefront of some of the Trump administration’s more cruel and attention-grabbing tactics, including assaulting migrants in Home Depot parking lots and using Black Hawk helicopters to rappel onto apartment buildings.
The new strategy is reportedly the brainchild of longtime Trump sidekick Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski is best known for repeated accusations of abuse and assault. In 2021, the wife of a wealthy Republican donor alleged that Lewandowski assaulted her and used lawyers to try to buy her silence.
Corey Lewandowski, shown in 2024.
Lewandowski is currently installed at the Department of Homeland Security as an adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whom he is reportedly dating.
Trump’s desire to adopt even harsher measures against immigrants comes after months of abuses that have taken place under the ICE regime.
ICE has harassed and detained pregnant women and children, broken up families, and interrogated military veterans while trying to meet Trump’s deportation goals. The agency’s actions have provoked Democratic officials to call for investigations.
The push for more ICE officers has led to lowered recruiting standards, meaning there are now agents in the field who reportedly have criminal backgrounds, haven’t met the physical requirements, and who have failed drug tests.
Trump’s push for mass deportations was always based in fantasy, used by the candidate to whip up support among the most racist elements of the Republican Party’s voter base. Trump promised those supporters that millions would be removed, but those figures wildly overstated the scope of migrants meeting the standard for deportation.
Instead of admitting defeat and that Trump’s promise was hollow, his team is instead doubling down on cruelty—even if families have to suffer.
