Washington [US], October 8: US federal agencies have been deporting large numbers of illegal immigrants in an ongoing campaign, with the message 'the era of open borders is over'.
The New York Post on October 8 cited newly released figures showing that the administration of US President Donald Trump is about to deport an additional 600,000 illegal immigrants in a nationwide crackdown in the first year of his second term.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), more than 2 million illegal immigrants have left the country since January.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies have also arrested more than 457,000 illegal immigrants, a move US officials say is "just the beginning" of the effort to tackle illegal immigration.
"Mr. Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem have re-energized an agency that has been denigrated and blocked from doing its job for the past four years," said DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
Federal agents "have made historic progress in carrying out President Trump's commitment to arrest and deport illegal immigrants who have entered our country," even though federal judges have blocked some enforcement actions, Ms. McLaughlin said.
The Department of Homeland Security has deported more than 493,000 illegal immigrants since Mr. Trump began his second term, and another 1.6 million have left voluntarily.
"Illegal immigrants are hearing our message: leave now or face the consequences. Now, some are even turning back before reaching our border," said Ms. McLaughlin.
According to ICE figures, just over 271,000 people will be deported from the US in 2024 - the final year of former President Joe Biden's administration. The figure for 2023 is 142,000 people.
Last month, ICE announced that it had not released any illegal border crossers for four consecutive months and declared "the era of open borders is over."
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
