Is ICE Still Deporting? 2025 Changes, Targets, and Defenses

Yes — ICE is still deporting people, and it is doing so at a pace several times higher than in recent years. A January 20, 2025 executive order scrapped the priority system that had told agents to focus on national security threats, serious criminals, and recent border crossers. In its place is a directive to enforce immigration law against every removable noncitizen. Interior arrests have surged, fast-track deportations now reach far from the border, and locations that were once effectively off-limits, like churches and schools, no longer are. If you lack status, have a final removal order, or hold a green card with certain criminal history, the enforcement picture in 2026 is materially different from what it was two years ago.

What Changed in January 2025

On his first day back in office, President Trump signed “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which revoked four Biden-era immigration enforcement orders. The order directs federal agencies to “employ all lawful means to ensure the faithful execution of the immigration laws of the United States against all inadmissible and removable aliens.”¹ That language ended the three-tier priority framework agents had used to decide whom to arrest.

Under the prior system, prosecutorial discretion shielded many people without status who had no criminal record and long community ties. That framework is gone. The current directive treats anyone present without authorization or with a final removal order as a legitimate target, and specifically calls for “the successful enforcement of final orders of removal.”¹

The numbers reflect the shift. Comparing the final months of the Biden administration to early 2026, ICE arrests more than quadrupled overall. Street arrests, meaning encounters outside jails and prisons, rose by a factor of eleven. Arrests of people with no criminal conviction went up more than eightfold. Arrests of people with violent criminal records rose about a third. The pattern is a move away from narrow targeting and toward broad interior enforcement.

Expedited Removal Now Reaches the Interior

One of the most consequential changes involves expedited removal, a process that skips immigration court entirely. Before January 2025, it was generally used only for people caught within 100 miles of a border who had been in the country for 14 days or less. The administration expanded it to the full scope Congress allows.

Expedited removal now applies to anyone in the United States who has not been admitted or paroled, lacks valid entry documents, and cannot prove continuous presence in the country for at least two years.² The statute gives the DHS Secretary sole and unreviewable discretion over which groups fall inside the process.³ Someone living in Chicago or Atlanta who entered without inspection and cannot document two years of continuous presence can now be removed without ever seeing a judge.

The one built-in safeguard is a credible fear screening. If a person expresses fear of persecution or an intent to apply for asylum, an asylum officer must interview them before removal. A positive finding sends the case to full proceedings before an immigration judge. A negative finding stands, subject to limited supervisory review.³

Who ICE Can Target

Federal law lists the grounds that make a noncitizen deportable, and those grounds exist independently of any administration. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1227, a person admitted to the United States becomes deportable if they fall into one of a long list of categories.⁴ The most common criminal grounds include:

Aggravated felonies, a broad statutory category that covers murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, money laundering, fraud over $10,000, and many other offenses. An aggravated felony conviction creates a near-certain path to deportation and bars most forms of relief.⁵
Controlled substance offenses. Any drug conviction after admission triggers deportability, with a narrow exception for a single offense involving personal possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.⁶
Firearms offenses. Any conviction related to buying, selling, possessing, or carrying a firearm in violation of any law counts.⁶
Crimes involving moral turpitude. A conviction within five years of admission for an offense carrying a possible sentence of one year or more can make someone deportable; two such convictions at any point after admission also qualify.⁶
Domestic violence, child abuse, stalking, and violations of protective orders.

Non-criminal grounds also carry real risk: overstaying a visa, violating the terms of admission, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, or becoming a public charge within five years of entry. These apply no matter how long someone has been in the country.

Green Card Holders Are Not Exempt

Lawful permanent residents are not safe from deportation. A green card holder convicted of an aggravated felony, a drug offense (including marijuana, even in states where it is legal), a firearms offense, or domestic violence goes through the same removal process as anyone else. Immigration law also uses a broader definition of “conviction” than criminal courts do. A plea later withdrawn or expunged under state law can still count as a conviction for deportation purposes.

International travel adds risk. When a green card holder returns from abroad, the government can treat them as seeking new admission. Being outside the country for more than 180 consecutive days, or having a criminal offense that makes someone inadmissible, can lead to detention and removal proceedings at the port of entry.

Where ICE Can Arrest People

The Biden administration’s “protected areas” policy had restricted ICE from enforcement at schools, hospitals, churches, courthouses, public demonstrations, and funerals. The January 2025 executive order revoked that framework. DHS replaced it with guidance letting individual field supervisors decide, case by case, whether to conduct enforcement at these locations.

Schools, churches, and medical facilities are no longer categorically off-limits. ICE has instructed agents to use “common sense,” and separate interim guidance suggests avoiding enforcement at courthouses handling non-criminal matters like family court or small claims court. These are internal policies rather than binding rules and can be changed or overridden.

Courts have pushed back on parts of this shift. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in early 2025 barring DHS from enforcing the new directives at the plaintiffs’ places of worship, though the order did not block arrests authorized by an administrative or judicial warrant. Protection in any given location depends on jurisdiction and ongoing litigation.

What Happens After an Arrest

Someone taken into ICE custody will go through one of two tracks: a full hearing before an immigration judge, or an administrative process that skips the courtroom.

Immigration Court

The judicial track begins with a Notice to Appear, a charging document that lists the alleged violations, the legal basis for removal, and the hearing date.⁷ The case proceeds under INA Section 240. At the hearing, you can present evidence, call witnesses, contest the charges, and apply for relief such as asylum or cancellation of removal. Court backlogs mean these cases often take months or years.

You have the right to a lawyer, but the government will not pay for one. The statute grants “the privilege of being represented, at no expense to the Government, by counsel of the alien’s choosing.”⁸ There is no public defender system in immigration court. Some nonprofits provide free representation, but demand far exceeds supply, and proceeding without an attorney substantially lowers the odds of success.

Administrative Removal

Some people never see a judge. Expedited removal can result in deportation within hours or days. Reinstatement of removal lets ICE reactivate a prior removal order against someone who reentered after being deported, again without a new hearing.⁹

Detention and Bond

After arrest, ICE decides whether to hold you or release you while your case proceeds. Mandatory detention applies to anyone deportable for an aggravated felony, a controlled substance offense, certain firearms offenses, or terrorism-related activity, and there is no possibility of bond in those cases outside a narrow protected-witness exception.¹⁰

For everyone else, bond is possible. The statutory minimum is $1,500, but judges routinely set bonds far higher, and there is no cap.¹⁰ The judge weighs flight risk and danger to the community.

Voluntary Departure as an Alternative

Instead of a formal removal order, a person may request voluntary departure — leaving the country at their own expense within a set window, up to 120 days if granted before proceedings begin or up to 60 days if granted at the end.¹¹ The benefit is real: no formal removal order on the record, which can otherwise bar legal return for years, and continued eligibility for some benefits that a deportation order forecloses.¹² Failing to leave on time triggers penalties that can be worse than a standard removal order. Aggravated felony and terrorism-related grounds disqualify a person from voluntary departure, and if the request comes at the end of proceedings, you must also show at least one year of physical presence and five years of good moral character.

Defenses That Can Stop a Deportation

Being in removal proceedings does not automatically mean you will be deported. Several forms of relief exist, but each has strict eligibility rules and you carry the burden of proof.

Asylum and Withholding of Removal

Asylum is available to people who have been persecuted, or have a well-founded fear of persecution, based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. You generally must file within one year of arriving. Withholding of removal is related but narrower: the government cannot send you to a specific country where your life or freedom would be threatened on those same grounds, but the standard is higher, “more likely than not.” Withholding does not lead to a green card. People convicted of particularly serious crimes, including aggravated felonies with sentences of five years or more, are barred from it.¹³

Convention Against Torture Protection

CAT protection is the last line of defense for people who cannot qualify for asylum or withholding, including many with aggravated felony convictions. To qualify, you must show it is more likely than not that you would be tortured by or with the consent of a government official if returned. CAT has no criminal bars, but it does not grant permanent status and can be revoked if country conditions change.

Cancellation of Removal

Cancellation of removal works differently depending on your status. A lawful permanent resident can apply after five years as a green card holder and seven years of continuous residence following any lawful admission, provided there is no aggravated felony conviction.¹⁴

For someone without a green card, the bar is much higher: 10 years of continuous physical presence, good moral character throughout that period, no disqualifying convictions, and proof that removal would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent, or child.¹⁴ Economic hardship alone almost never satisfies that standard. Judges look for circumstances like a child with a serious medical condition dependent on the applicant’s care.

What a Removal Order Costs Long-Term

A formal removal order carries consequences well beyond leaving the country. A deported person is generally barred from lawful return for 10 years. For removal following an aggravated felony, the bar is 20 years, and in some cases permanent. Being found in the U.S. after deportation and before the bar expires can expose you to federal criminal prosecution, not just another civil removal.

Illegal reentry after deportation is a federal crime under 8 U.S.C. § 1326, punishable by up to two years for a first offense. If the original removal followed a felony conviction, the maximum rises to 10 years; if it followed an aggravated felony conviction, up to 20 years.¹⁵ The January 2025 executive order specifically directs the Attorney General to prioritize prosecution of these reentry offenses.¹

Reinstatement compounds the risk. ICE can reactivate a prior removal order and deport the person again without a new hearing.⁹ Under current enforcement conditions, reentering after removal is one of the highest-risk decisions a person can make.

1
The White House. Protecting The American People Against Invasion
2
Congress.gov. The Department of Homeland Security’s Authority to Expand Expedited Removal
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1225 – Inspection of Aliens Arriving in the United States
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
5
Cornell Law Institute. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
6
GovInfo. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229 – Initiation of Removal Proceedings
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings
9
eCFR. 8 CFR 1241.8 – Reinstatement of Removal Orders
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1226 – Apprehension and Detention of Aliens
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229c – Voluntary Departure
12
U.S. Department of Justice. Information on Voluntary Departure
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1231 – Detention and Removal of Aliens Ordered Removed
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229b – Cancellation of Removal
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1326 – Reentry of Removed Aliens