Trump's deportations lag behind Biden's last year

U.S. President Donald Trump has deported 37,660 people in his first month of office. This number is lower than the monthly average of 57,000 deportations during Joe Biden's last year as president. Experts believe deportations may increase soon as Trump prepares to expand efforts to arrest and remove undocumented migrants. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) noted that Biden-era deportation numbers were "artificially high" due to a surge in illegal immigration. Despite his campaign promise to carry out large-scale deportations, initial data shows that Trump may face challenges in reaching the high deportation rates seen under Biden. Recently, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was reassigned after failing to meet expectations. The administration is looking to make it easier to arrest migrants without criminal records and to detain more individuals with final deportation orders. New agreements with several Central American countries aim to facilitate deportations. Trump's administration has been using military support to assist with deportation flights to various countries, including Guatemala and Venezuela. The military resources could expand further, according to a security expert. Additional measures are being taken, such as allowing ICE officers more authority to arrest migrants at U.S. immigration courts. The U.S. State Department has also labeled certain gangs as terrorist organizations, which could make some gang members deportable under immigration law. ICE has reported an increase in arrests, doubling those of individuals with criminal charges compared to the previous year. However, the capacity for detaining migrants remains a challenge, with current facilities at near-full capacity. A bill providing $340 billion for border security and deportations has been passed by the Republican-led Senate, but there are still divisions within the party on how to proceed with funding.