Trump mass deportation plan targets criminal illegal immigrants first

The Trump White House reiterated that anyone residing in the U.S. illegally is eligible for deportation as its crackdown continues to initially focus on removing “the worst of the worst” violent illegal immigrants. 

“The President’s entire team, including Border Czar Tom Homan and Secretary Noem, are on the same page when it comes to implementing his agenda — which has always focused on prioritizing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — and the successful deportations and historically secure border proves that,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital Tuesday. 

“As always, anyone in the country illegally is eligible to be deported,” she added. “President Trump is keeping his promise to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in history.” 

The administration, most notably offices within the Department of Homeland Security, are in the midst of ongoing arrest and deportation efforts as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the immigration crisis that rocked the U.S. under the Biden administration. 

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Officials increasingly have zeroed in on messaging that violent illegal immigrants are the top priority for apprehension, while broader mass-deportation efforts targeting all illegal immigrants have faded from the forefront. 

Border czar Tom Homan, for example, told NBC News in June in an interview only released Monday that failure to prioritize arresting and deporting “criminal illegal aliens” over other illegal immigrants risks losing the “faith of the American people.” 

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“I think the vast majority of the American people think criminal illegal aliens need to leave,” Homan said in an interview with NBC News in June. “And if we stick to that prioritization, I think we keep the faith of the American people.”

“And I think the more we do that, the more the American people will support what President Trump’s doing. We got to do it and we’ve got to do it in a humane manner.”

Homan has said in other public remarks that the “prioritization of criminal aliens doesn’t mean we forget about everyone else,” and that “If you are in the country illegally, you are not off the table.” 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed Tuesday that deporting all illegal immigrants continues to be the mission of the administration, with violent criminals first up for deportation. 

“The Trump administration will continue our focus on deporting all illegal aliens present in our country, with a focus on the worst of the worst criminals,” she said Tuesday. 

The Trump administration and campaign historically focused on deporting violent illegal immigrants as the first order of business, but such comments were often coupled with messaging that all illegal immigrants would face deportation under Trump 

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Trump, for example, said in December 2024 that “we will send the whole family back to the country” if they were illegal in an interview that also included the then president-elect railing against countries who sent “murderers” from and “people from mental institutions” to the U.S.

“Number one, we’re doing criminals and we’re going to do them really rapidly,” Trump said in another interview in December 2024, teeing up his administration’s immigration policies. “We’re getting the worst gang probably with MS-13 and the Venezuelan gangs are the worst in the world. They’re vicious, violent people.”

The administration has faced growing scrutiny from Democrats and other critics following the launch of immigration raids and operations in cities from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles to Minneapolis in 2025. 

The protests hit a fever pitch in Minneapolis earlier in 2026 as agitators took to the streets of the Twin Cities to speak out against and confront federal law enforcement officers, most notably following the fatal shootings of two Americans by immigration officials in January. 

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The administration repeatedly has said it is not backing down in Minneapolis. 

Officials have expanded coordination with local law enforcement — particularly jails — to take custody of illegal immigrants already detained, allowing arrests at facilities rather than in neighborhoods and requiring fewer officers on the ground.