'45 flights a day': ICE deportations surge under Trump; report shows 34% rise from Biden era

The Trump administration has sharply increased the number of daily ICE flights, new data showed on Thursday. In August, an average of 45 flights took off each day to deport immigrants or move them between detention centres, making it the busiest month since records began in 2020, according to the ICE Flight Monitor run by the nonprofit Human Rights First. Between January 20 and August 31, 2025, ICE carried out at least 7,454 enforcement flights, a 34 percent rise compared with the same period in 2024 under president Joe Biden. In August alone, 1,393 flights were recorded, including roughly 240 deportation flights leaving the US. Most of these went to Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and El Salvador. Other flights moved detainees between detention centres, a practice known as “shuffles.”

The increase comes after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July, boosted ICE’s budget with funding for more staff and detention capacity. Human Rights First also raised concerns about the treatment of deportees, noting that many are kept in handcuffs or shackles for flights that can last more than 30 hours and include multiple stops. The Trump administration, however, maintains that detainees receive high standards of care, while emphasising that those deported have broken US laws and must be sent home or to a third country.