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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assured on January 20 that the country is heading towards "another historic year" under the presidency of Donald Trump, with records in deportations, border control, and a reduction in drug trafficking.
A statement released by the agency details how, under the leadership of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the DHS “has restored the rule of law” and is achieving figures that demonstrate having the safest border in the modern history of the country.
Official data indicates that in 2025 almost three million illegal immigrants left the United States: around 2.2 million due to "self-deportation" and over 675,000 due to direct expulsion by immigration authorities.
The report also highlights that the trafficking of fentanyl at the southern border has decreased "by more than half" compared to the year 2024, and the Coast Guard seized enough cocaine "to kill 177 million Americans."
In addition, the DHS claimed to have saved taxpayers more than $13.2 billion. According to the authorities, the current administration is consolidating an "unprecedented sustained deterrence" in border arrests.
The "safest" border and the human cost
Since May 2025, the Border Patrol has not released any immigrants in U.S. territory. The detentions, which average less than 9,000 per month, represent —according to the DHS— the lowest levels since 1992.
In parallel, the Trump administration is promoting new physical and aquatic barriers funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill, with more than 11 billion dollars committed to date to strengthen the wall.
However, behind the achievements celebrated by Washington, there is another less visible reality, as thousands of families are torn apart by accelerated deportations and massive raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The DHS emphasizes that "70% of those arrested are convicted criminals or have criminal charges," but human rights organizations and community leaders have reported that among those detained are also workers without criminal records who had lived in the United States for years, paid taxes, and supported their families.
During the operation Angel's Honor, ICE arrested over 1,030 undocumented immigrants in just 14 days, relying on the new Laken Riley Act. Among those arrested were gang members and criminals, but also migrants without a violent history, which has sparked an intense debate about the scope and proportionality of the measures.
A more powerful DHS with more personnel
The DHS press release celebrates the hiring of 12,000 new agents and the signing of more than 1,200 agreements with local and state governments that are now collaborating directly with ICE under section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
These agreements are known by names such as Alligator Alcatraz in Florida or Louisiana Lockup, centers for immigrants that have significantly increased detention capacity “by thousands” of spots.
For the Trump administration, these measures have brought "safer cities, cheaper rents, and higher wages," but for activists and migrant communities, they represent a policy of persecution that criminalizes those who arrived fleeing violence or economic crises in their countries, many of them Latin American and specifically Cuban.
While the DHS boasts of record numbers, the question many immigrant advocates are asking is whether this "safer border" is being built at the expense of human suffering and the American dream of millions who still see the United States as a land of freedom and opportunities.
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