Not surprisingly, moderate Republicans are criticizing Trump for the success of his deportation efforts
In June of 2024, at a campaign event in Racine, WI, President Trump promised, “We’re going to have the largest deportation…We have no choice.”
Trump's deportation promises had strong support among Americans, as a June 2024 CBS News poll showed. The results indicated 62% of Americans supported a “New National Program to Deport All Undocumented Immigrants.”
After widely promoting his policies on illegal immigration in the campaign, President Trump won a historic landslide in the 2024 election. He captured 312 electoral votes in 30 states, including all seven battleground states. It was also the first time since 2004 that a Republican presidential candidate had won the popular vote.
The 2024 election results proved the American people supported Trump’s pledge to begin “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.” Since his second inauguration, Trump has worked mightily to fulfill that promise.
From January 20, 2025, until May of 2026, the Trump administration removed over three million illegal aliens from the country. This included over two million who self-deported and 900,000 who were deported by the Trump administration. Another 900,000 illegal aliens were arrested.
This was a massive policy change from President Joe Biden’s administration that allowed approximately six million illegal aliens to enter the country during his term. Under Biden, the southern border was wide open, but fortunately, President Trump stopped the flow of illegal aliens into the country.
These policies are what President Trump promised to implement during his campaign. Not surprisingly, moderate Republicans are criticizing Trump for the success of his deportation efforts. Karl Rove, Republican strategist and commentator, said Trump’s policies “created a new problem.” He criticized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal aliens in “major cities.” However, ICE needs to be operating in the “sanctuary cities” led by Democratic mayors because these areas have become magnets for illegal aliens.