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• Trump releases dozens of executive orders on first day
• Safeguards rolled back for schools, churches, hospitals
• Workplace immigrations raids underway

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement, including a mass deportation plan that could affect a record numbers of migrants.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 11 million immigrants lacking a legal status in 2022.

“The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway,” a White House spokesperson said January 23. Since then, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have reported , sometimes topping 1,000 daily.

New quotas from the White House are directing local ICE offices to make

On taking office, Trump issued several immigration-related executive orders. One of these  along the southern border, another said the situation constituted an “”, while a third directed the military to “”.

On his first day in office, Trump also stopped the U.S.  for at least four months, sought to and moved to again require asylum seekers to seek protection from outside U.S. territory.

Executive orders can typically be implemented immediately, though several of Trump’s actions will likely be slowed by legal challenges.

While the Republican president has said his immigration ambitions are unprecedented in scope, he must still follow a specific process, as outlined in U.S. law.

Moreover, the president cannot make any new laws - beyond the powers specifically given to him by the Constitution or Congress - by simply issuing an executive order.

What's deportation?

Deportation entails the

The United States typically enforces it on those who entered the country illegally, violated its laws, overstayed a visa or are deemed a threat to public safety.

Most deportations are for  rather than criminal violations.

Deportation figures have fluctuated significantly over the years, exceeding 100,000 a year in the mid-1990s and mostly rising ever since.

Trump deported some 1.5 million people in his first term of 2017 to 2021, a figure nearly matched under outgoing  – including a record in fiscal year 2024.

How does it typically work?

Anyone facing deportation must first be found, then detained and their immigration status verified by the government.

Trump's threat of mass deportation is thus beginning with raids and search operations, as well as large-scale detention.

On January 29, Trump ordered military officials to prepare the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold what he later said would be

Private prisons could also be used or set up, along with

Most of those deemed eligible for deportation would then go before an immigration judge where they can defend their case.

During this process, immigrants can also opt to apply for a new immigration status, perhaps citing a family relationship or a fear of persecution back home.

The judge's eventual ruling can also be appealed, potentially  by weeks or years.

Some immigrants can also be subject to "expedited removal" without any hearing if they entered the United States without valid documents or broke their visa requirements.

Such decisions , although the detainee can still apply for asylum.

Tens of thousands of people have been  each year since it began in the mid-1990s.

Where do deportees get sent?

If a judge orders a deportation, the person can still leave voluntarily before the order is , a process called voluntary departure.

Each year, about 2% of people who face possible deportation take this route, seeking to leave without a formal order on their record and thus keeping open the possibility of  in the near future.

Otherwise, federal officials can remove a deportee at any time once an order is signed and if a country has accepted them.

Complications can arise if the United States has strained relations or no diplomatic ties with a deportee's home nation.

Migrants who cannot be deported can be detained for 180 days after a final removal order. They can also be released until deportation is possible.

The Mexican government has indicated that it will accept its citizens in a mass deportation effort, including starting to build temporary shelters to house them.

After the Colombian government initially refused to accept hundreds of its deported nationals, the Trump administration announced trade penalties, and Bogota on January 26, agreeing to facilitate the returns.

What exceptions exist within that standard process?

In general, non-citizens who cannot be deported include asylum seekers, victims of crime, people with U.S. family ties and whistle-blowers who report U.S. labour violations.

Migrants with "Temporary Protected Status" [TPS] are also exempt as they come from a land deemed unsafe, mainly due to natural disasters or conflict.

TPS lets immigrants work legally in the United States.

Protections are also offered to those who were brought into the country

Migrants in each of these categories can still be deported if they break the law.

Where is Trump making changes?

'Safe' places that have not seen immigration raids in the past – such as schools or churches – are now coming into play.

Within days of coming into power, Trump  previous limits on immigration arrests near schools, churches and hospitals.

Workplace , a policy Biden ended, have also been restarted, including on a “local establishment” in Newark, New Jersey, that the mayor on January 23 said detained both undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens.

Trump has said he will use the U.S. military to the fullest extent of the law to support his efforts, deploying the National Guard to support deportations, but not make arrests.

The Defense Department announced on January 22 that it will deploy  to the southwestern border, with the administration considering sending a total of 10,000 to the Mexican border.

A January 23 memo lays the groundwork to have local police and sheriff’s departments in the national crackdown.

A state bill in Mississippi would even create a “” program, offering $1,000 rewards for assistance in identifying undocumented immigrants.

"Sanctuary" jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration deportation efforts are also being targeted.

The Justice Department has created a new “” working group, and prosecutors have been directed to investigate local officials who do not cooperate in deportation efforts.

Trump is seeking to  that offer temporary protections to people fleeing violence or natural disaster, and has already for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans under the TPS scheme.

As of March 2024, TPS covered more than  from 16 countries.

People brought in illegally as children, estimated at , could also face a new threat.

Trump expanded  in his first term, making for longer detentions and affecting more migrants.

Immigration advocates worry this policy may now be back.

A shortage of detention facilities could yet block mass deportation efforts, but the new administration might also house detainees in parallel facilities, be it building "tent cities" or using private detention facilities.

The chosen destinations for deportees could still also change, should their home countries say "no" to a return.

During the first Trump administration, officials sent some asylum seekers to Guatemala.

Now, the new administration may be looking at a new list of , including Panama and the Bahamas.

This article was updated on Jan 31, 2025, to include the latest developments.

(Reporting by Carey L Biron; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths.)