ICE Director Reveals 1.6 Million Illegal Aliens With Final Deportation Orders

ICE Director Todd Lyons reveals 1.6 million illegal aliens with final deportation orders in the U.S., including 800,000 with criminal convictions.

The immigration crisis in America just came into sharper focus. During Senate testimony this week, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons disclosed a staggering figure: approximately 1.6 million illegal aliens are currently in the United States with final deportation orders.

Even more alarming, roughly half of them about 800,000 have criminal convictions.

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Lyons made clear that these deportation orders were not casually issued. They came from immigration judges within the Department of Justice after due process proceedings.

“What we're tracking right now is about 1.6 million final orders in the United States, with approximately 800,000 of those having criminal convictions,” Lyons said.

The scope of the problem is not abstract. Lyons revealed that in Minnesota alone, there are 16,840 individuals with final deportation orders who remain at large.

The numbers underscore just how deep the immigration crisis has become. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, the southern border experienced more than 2.4 million encounters in fiscal year 2023 the highest ever recorded. At one point, as Senator noted during the hearing, an estimated 10,000 people per day were crossing illegally into the country.

Lankford also pointed to a particularly troubling statistic: the Biden administration estimated that 70,000 “special interest aliens” individuals from regions with known terrorism concerns entered the U.S. in 2024 alone. Many were released into the interior pending immigration proceedings.

“We had no idea who they were,” Lankford said bluntly.

The 1.6 million deportation orders represent cases that have already moved through the legal system. These are not pending asylum claims or newly arrived migrants awaiting hearings. They are individuals who have received a final ruling from an immigration judge and are expected to leave the country.

Key takeaways from Lyons’ testimony:

• 1.6 million illegal aliens currently have final deportation orders.

• 800,000 of those individuals have criminal convictions.

• Tens of thousands remain at large in individual states like Minnesota.

Immigration enforcement agencies, particularly, are now facing political headwinds. Democrats have sharply criticized enforcement operations, especially following high-profile altercations involving activists in Minnesota. Some lawmakers have even threatened to defund the Department of Homeland Security unless significant policy changes are made.

Meanwhile, ICE agents continue to conduct thousands of arrests daily. According to Lyons and supportive lawmakers, those arrests are carried out “by the book,” targeting individuals with criminal records and final removal orders.

The broader immigration crisis cannot be divorced from these figures. Since 2021, total border encounters have surpassed 7 million, a level unprecedented in modern U.S. history. Communities across the country from New York City to small Midwestern towns have felt the strain on housing, healthcare systems, and local budgets.

Critics argue that years of lax enforcement and mixed messaging created incentives for illegal entry. Supporters of stricter enforcement say the 1.6 million figure proves that the issue is not merely about border crossings but about follow-through on the rule of law.

Senator Lankford summed up the frustration: “We’re losing perspective of what’s really happened.”

The debate over immigration will likely remain front and center as the 2024 election approaches. Voters consistently rank border security among their top concerns, and revelations like this add fuel to an already heated political environment.

At its core, the question is simple: if deportation orders handed down by immigration judges are not enforced, what message does that send about the integrity of America’s legal system?

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