Trump Administration Immigration Policy

DHS data provided to CBS shows ICE is holding about 73,000 people facing deportation — a record high that the agency says includes individuals in active removal proceedings or under final orders. The public acknowledgment adds transparency even as separate reporting by the New York Times highlights concerns about detention conditions after the family of a Cuban immigrant says he was killed in ICE custody in a legal filing.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said ICE has removed more than 670,000 people in the past year, and the department has publicly highlighted a holiday‑time surge of arrests — including named noncitizens with violent and sexual convictions across operations in Minnesota, Ohio, California and New Orleans — framing the actions as “ICE’s Christmas gift to Americans” and asserting more than 2.5 million people have left the U.S. since President Trump returned to office. The enforcement push, which DHS says includes roughly 70% of arrestees with U.S. criminal convictions, has prompted protests and criticism from sanctuary officials and lawmakers (including Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey) and sparked disputes over deaths in custody and the scope of federal operations.

The Trump administration is preparing to deport at least 40 Iranian nationals to Iran on a charter flight from Arizona as early as Sunday, the first known U.S. deportation flight to the country in decades and the first since Trump threatened Tehran over its bloody protest crackdown. Lawyers and relatives say the group includes at least two gay men with pending asylum appeals who fled likely death sentences after arrests by Iran’s morality police, and who now fear execution if returned to a regime where homosexuality is punishable by death and thousands of protesters have reportedly been killed in recent weeks. One man’s family says he has lived in the U.S. since arriving as a minor, has U.S.‑citizen children, and was picked up by ICE despite years of regular check‑ins on an old removal order for non‑violent offenses. The deportations come as Trump publicly calls Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “a sick man,” labels Iran “the worst place to live anywhere in the world,” urges Iranians to keep protesting and says U.S. airstrikes remain possible, underscoring a sharp disconnect between the administration’s human‑rights rhetoric and its enforcement choices. Advocates are rushing to federal court to try to halt the flight, arguing that many of those on the manifest have never received full, meaningful asylum hearings before being sent back into a country where they could be jailed or killed.

In a new podcast interview, White House border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration will “work around” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s executive order directing state and local police not to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and will respond by sending more federal agents into the state. Homan, a Virginia resident, blasted Spanberger for what he called a sharp break from her law‑and‑order campaign persona and accused her of abandoning child‑trafficking victims by refusing to help ICE transfer noncitizens from local jails. He said the administration is already using similar workarounds in New York, California, Oregon and Illinois, which he described as “not friendly” to ICE, and reiterated plans to hire “thousands of agents” and “flood sanctuary cities” so federal teams can track down noncitizens released from jails. Homan also claimed ICE has located about 130,000 previously missing migrant children, many allegedly exploited in sex trafficking or forced labor, contrasting that with what he said was inaction by the prior administration—figures that are his assertions and not independently substantiated in this piece. The remarks underscore an escalating clash between the White House and blue‑state governors over immigration enforcement, with federal officials openly planning to increase street‑level raids and arrests when local law‑enforcement agencies refuse to honor detainers.

On Jan. 18 CBS’s 60 Minutes aired Sharyn Alfonsi’s CECOT deportation segment — about a month after editor‑in‑chief Bari Weiss had it pulled from the Dec. 21 broadcast — adding written statements from the White House and Homeland Security and prompting CBS to frame the broadcast as evidence of editorial independence. The report says that between March and April last year exactly 252 Venezuelan men, including college student Luis Muñoz Pinto, were deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison under an Alien Enemies Act theory, offers graphic first‑person accounts of beatings and abuse, and notes that Alfonsi repeatedly sought but did not secure on‑camera interviews with key Trump administration officials.

The State Department has circulated a cable to all U.S. embassies and consulates spelling out which "major sporting events" will be exempt from President Trump’s new visa ban on citizens of 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority, beyond the already announced 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes, coaches and support staff for those events—and for competitions run or sanctioned by a long list of governing bodies and U.S. pro leagues, from the IOC, FIFA and Special Olympics to the NCAA, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, Formula 1, PGA, LPGA, LIV Golf, MLS, UFC, WWE and others—can still obtain visas to compete. Foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors from affected countries generally will not qualify under the exemption and would need some other basis to enter the U.S. The cable emphasizes that only a “small subset” of travelers tied to the World Cup, Olympics and other covered events will meet the exception, implementing a clause in Trump’s proclamation that left it to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to define which competitions qualified. The move attempts to preserve the ability of international athletes and teams to appear at U.S.-hosted events while maintaining the administration’s broader restrictions, but it also means many overseas fans and businesses will remain locked out despite the U.S. hosting the world’s biggest tournaments.

The Trump administration will pause processing of immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries beginning Jan. 21, a State Department directive that covers permanent‑residence visas — including green cards, fiancé visas and certain work visas — but not temporary nonimmigrant tourist or business visas. The State Department told consular officers to implement the freeze and to step up screening and documentation, framing the move as aimed at blocking migrants who would use U.S. public benefits and placing the burden on applicants to prove they will not rely on welfare; the list of affected countries includes Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, Pakistan and Senegal.