Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that more than a million illegal immigrants have left the United States since President Donald Trump took office.
“In less than 200 days, 1.6 MILLION illegal immigrants have left the United States population. This is massive,” Noem said on X.
“This means safer streets, taxpayer savings, pressure off of schools and hospital services, and better job opportunities for Americans,” she added. “Thank you, @POTUS Trump!”
In a video posted to X, Noem said the numbers show “exactly the genius of Donald J. Trump.”
“When he was elected in November, he knew he had to make America safe again,” she said.
She added that when Trump tapped her to serve as Homeland Security secretary, part of her job was to tell the world “that no longer will we tolerate people being in our country illegally and that they need to go home.”
“The world got the message. They’re leaving on their own, which is the best thing for American citizens,” she said.
Noem said that as illegal immigrants left, “2.5 million Americans became employed in the last six-seven months.”
“That’s incredible growth for U.S. citizens that will benefit their families and the people who love this country, who were born here, who want to be employed and now have new opportunities for success,” she said.
A news release on the DHS website said, “In her first 200 days as secretary, DHS also launched an international, multimillion-dollar ad campaign warning illegal aliens to LEAVE NOW because if they don’t, we will arrest them and deport them. This new data shows illegal aliens are hearing our message.”
It said the Trump administration ended the CBP One App, which it said allowed “more than one million aliens to illegally enter the country.”
The app has since been repurposed to allow illegal immigrants to leave the country voluntarily.
It also noted that those who self-deport can receive $1,000 and a free flight to their home country.
“The rapid decline in the illegal immigrant population is already being felt nationwide, from reduced strain on public services to a resurgence in local job markets,” the release said.
According to DHS, the illegal immigrant population rose from 10.2 million in 2021 to 15.8 million when Trump took office in January.
The notices went out quietly, just a three-line email with no fanfare and no explanation. However, the message was unambiguous: the era of activist immigration judges undermining the law has ended.
Roughly 50 federal immigration judges have now been dismissed, despite the Biden-era backlog of more than three million cases clogging the system. President Donald Trump, now back in the White House, is making good on his promise to restore law and order, not just at the border but in the courtrooms too, El País reported.
As expected, the judges who obstructed deportations and granted privileges to illegal immigrants are protesting. No longer constrained by the dignity of their former positions, many are now going public with claims that their terminations were unfair, retaliatory, or even discriminatory.
“Jennifer Peyton, an immigration judge since 2016, was part of the Chicago court’s most visible group of judges, tasked with training new judges and overseeing highly complex cases,” El País reported. ‘
“On July 4, she told CBS, while on vacation with her family, she received her termination email as a complete surprise. She maintains that she has never faced any disciplinary action and has always received positive performance reviews,” said the outlet.