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According to a memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Trump administration plans to deploy immigration agents to the U.S.–Mexico border to arrest undocumented migrants trying to return home voluntarily during the holidays.
ICE and CBP would conduct targeted operations at southern border ports, including commercial buses, to detain people “self-removing” and place them in formal deportation proceedings.
Detaining migrants who leave voluntarily may be aimed to impose long-term reentry penalties, since formal removal can bar people from returning for years or permanently.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the administration’s hardline immigration strategy at last Thursday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing, saying rising voluntary departures show the approach is working.
However, the “Operation Irish Goodbye” may be serving a different purpose: inflating deportation statistics as the administration pushes to show progress toward Trump’s goal of record-high removals — even though its projected 600,000 deportations remain below Biden’s 685,000 in 2024.
Noem seems to have support from Texan Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose 23 district has the longest border with Mexico. At the hearing he said: “Please go back to your agencies and thank the men and women helping to keep this country safe.”
DHS has also launched a new “Worst of the Worst” searchable database claiming that 70% of ICE arrests involve criminal offenders, despite data showing most detained individuals have no criminal record. New data from UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project shows that ICE arrested nearly 75,000 people with no criminal record under Trump, contradicting the administration’s narrative about enforcement priorities. The data does not include arrests made by Border Patrol which has launched aggressive immigration operations in many cities like Los Angeles or Chicago.
Looking ahead, the administration plans to roll out the $1 million “Gold Card” visa program on December 18, promising U.S. residency in “record time,” according to its official website: trumpcard.gov
