By The Daily Caller (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-09 21:07:04 | Updated at 2026-10-12 08:23:07
2 days ago
The Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) redacted deportation data in response to the Oversight Project’s lawsuit, according to documents obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller.
The first document received by the independent 501(c)(4) organization had every data field redacted.
2026-HQLI-00056- Final Response Records October 2026.pdf by ashley
The two-page document, titled “CBP Home Voluntary Self-Departures Summary,” dated Sept. 30, 2026, was fully redacted by DHS under FOIA exemptions (b)(5), which covers deliberative process and attorney-client privilege, and (b)(7)(E), which covers law enforcement techniques and procedures. (RELATED: Oversight Project Charts Path Forward To Combat Birthright Citizenship)
The agency redacted every number, chart and label, leaving only its seal, the document’s title and date, and one footnote visible.
The redactions come amid a broader effort by the Oversight Project to obtain federal deportation figures.
The group launched its Two Commas Compliance Tracker in May and filed eight FOIA requests with DHS, ICE and CBP, including requests for data on self-deportations through the CBP Home app.
After the agencies failed to provide the records, the group filed a lawsuit in July.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not published its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 annual enforcement report, more than a year after that FY ended on September 30, 2025.
The agency’s annual report page still lists the FY 2024 edition as the latest and was last updated July 27, 2026.
ICE released the FY 2024 report on December 19, 2024, about two and a half months after that year closed; following that same timeline, a FY 2025 edition would have been expected around December 2025 on the same schedule.
The Oversight Project launched a second investigation in September covering the period from May 2026 onward, while ICE’s FY 2025 annual enforcement report remains months overdue.
Interesting break down of detention statistics. This write-up also says ~80% of these detentions result in removals, so that would get us close to 500k since January 2025. That’s what I put it at last month. Would be better if the deportation data was just released. https://t.co/oz6fqxfAFU
— Mike Howell (@MHowellTweets) October 6, 2026When asked about DHS’s failure to provide deportation data to the Oversight Project, President Mike Howell told the Caller, “When DHS uses Obama and Biden policies, they get Obama and Biden deportation numbers. Anyone with a working brain knows 3 million illegals haven’t been deported or chosen to self-deport.”
Howell also questioned claims from what he described as “paid influencers,” arguing that the figures were being withheld because deportation numbers were low. (RELATED: Trump Admin’s Deportation Data Chief Is Out, Celebrates Escape From ‘War On Immigrants’)
“Even the paid influencers who read the same script to say so much know it’s not true. The reason why these numbers are redacted is because they’re low. The numbers can be high if the Administration starts listening to President Trump’s campaign promise instead of the black-pilled, panican consultants and corrupt special interest lobbies who love their illegal workers.”
The Oversight Project is an investigative and advocacy organization that originally incubated inside The Heritage Foundation before spinning off as an independent 501(c)(4) entity in 2025
Oversight Project Visiting Fellow for Deportation Studies Scott Mechkowski told the Caller three million deportations are not feasible given the government’s enforcement capacity, calling DHS’s redaction of deportation data in response to the Oversight Project’s FOIA request “a slap in the face.”
“I spent 24 years in federal immigration enforcement. I know what it takes to arrest, detain, process, and remove a person, and I know what our capacity looks like. Three million removals is not possible,” Mechkowski said.
🚨 Operation Deportation, a new Daily Caller documentary available Friday, August 29, pulls back the curtain on the law enforcement blitz that promises to change America and reverse the disaster that was Biden’s presidency. https://t.co/9YBFdKshOs
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 27, 2025Mechkowski argued that even when accounting for ICE removals, Border Patrol returns, expedited removals, voluntary returns, self-removals and other verified departures, the total would still fall short of three million. He also pointed to the lack of worksite enforcement and a federal E-Verify mandate.
“If DHS stands behind three million, release the data,” Mechkowski said. “If they can’t, somebody needs to explain why the President is being given numbers that don’t hold up.” (RELATED: Mass Deportation … After The Midterms?)
Publication of key detention data had stalled during a Department of Homeland Security funding lapse, according to an April USA Today report.
The Caller reached out to DHS and the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
