Trump Admin Deported Fewer People Than It Fired in First Month—Report

 The Trump administration in its first month outnumbered deportations with federal job cuts by almost double, even as many of those cuts face legal challenges, according to a new report from Reuters.

Newsweek reached out to the White House by email on Saturday afternoon for comment.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump has tackled the twin priorities of reducing the number of illegal immigrants in the country while also reducing the scope and scale of the federal government through aggressive cutbacks on personnel and programs through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Last month, he enacted mass deportations within the first day of his new administration, a policy that has been shown to be popular among voters across the political spectrum, before and after the election.

A New York Times/Ipsos survey (January 2-10) found that 55 percent of voters back Trump's mass deportation plan, while 88 percent support deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Most Democrats and Republicans agree that the immigration system is broken.

At the same time, his efforts to cut probationary employees at departments have faced legal challenges. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan this week knocked back one effort lodged by state attorneys general to sue the administration over firing employees, arguing that plaintiffs in that case failed to demonstrate damages.

What To Know

A report from Reuters published on Saturday found that the Trump administration in its first month managed to deport around 37,660 people, citing previously unpublished U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data. This falls below the monthly average of roughly 57,000 removals and returns during the final full year of the Biden administration.

This is in contrast to the far greater number of job cuts the administration has achieved. While the full number remains in flux due to the legal challenges, some of which remain in appeal while the others await rulings, but around 200,000 workers have been potentially impacted by the cuts. Some of those cuts could be reversed, however.

The Department of Energy accidentally let go critical nuclear security personnel, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) accidentally cut some workers who oversee the efforts to combat avian flu.

The administration also succeeded in convincing around 75,000 workers to take buyout deals. The deal, referred to "deferred resignations" by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), offered employees pay and benefits through September 30, 2025, as long as they accepted the deal by the end of the first week in February. Employees would continue working until the end of the month before taking their leave.

What People Are Saying

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: "Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office. HUGE especially since border encounters have plummeted, which are the low hanging deportations and artificially inflated Biden-era numbers. These are hardened, violent criminals."

He added: "Trump administration officials say deportations will RISE in coming months as Trump opens up new avenues to ramp up arrests and removals, and as agreements are activated with Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica, which will accept deportees from other nations."

"Tom Homan is currently asking for $150 billion to ramp up enforcement and removals, budget that is expected to be included in the 'one beautiful bill.' Mass deportations are coming."

Kathleen Bush-Joseph, policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, previously told Newsweek: "There are really important protections provided through the immigration court system, including due process and the possibility of filing for protections that are guaranteed by U.S. domestic law, as well as international treaties, including asylum, and all the faster processes, such as expedited removal, do not have the same due process protections.

She added: "Expedited removal actually happens in a matter of hours in some cases, so it can be extremely difficult for people to try to obtain an attorney and even learn about and understand the process that they're going through, whereas a immigration court judges are required to explain what rights people have and what relief may be available to them."

Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), told the World Governments Summit in Dubai earlier this month: "I think we do need to delete entire agencies as opposed to leave a lot of them behind. If we don't remove the roots of the weed, then it's easy for the weed to grow back."

Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek early this month: "DOGE is an unprecedented and highly controversial approach to federal spending reform. From a financial planning perspective, there are critical concerns about its methodology and long-term implications..."

He added: "These cuts pose significant risks to long-term governmental and economic stability. While cost-cutting measures can be beneficial, the current approach lacks any transparent methodology or comprehensive impact analysis. In my opinion, the potential destabilization of critical agencies like USAID could compromise national security and international diplomatic relationships."

What Happens Next?

The Trump administration will look to ramp up deportation efforts, potentially introducing raids of churches and schools, as teased by officials earlier this month.

DOGE will keep looking to cut what it deems to be waste and fraud in the federal government, with its sights set on the Department of Defense and Department of Education.