A high-ranking Homeland Security official said the administration is set to "shatter" the record for illegal aliens deported in President Trump's first year. (White House; Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)
"Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now or face the consequence. Migrants are now even turning back before they reach our borders," said McLaughlin, pointing to what she said has been a 99.99 percent drop in migration through Panama’s Darien Gap, which is a key migration route to the U.S.
"In the face of a historic number of injunctions from activist judges, ICE, CBP, and the U.S. Coast Guard have made historic progress to carry out President Trump’s promise of arresting and deporting illegal aliens who have invaded our country."
Just this weekend, DHS said that it continued its sweep of the "worst of the worst" criminal illegal aliens across the country amidst the ongoing government shutdown. Over the weekend, DHS said it arrested illegals convicted of rape of a child, assault, hit-and-run, kidnapping and other crimes.
One of those arrested was Erick Xavier Romero, a Dominican national, who the agency said was convicted of rape of a child in Boston. Another illegal, Guatemalan national, German Osvaldo Cortez-Chajon, was arrested this weekend after being convicted of traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act in Dale County, Alabama. A third illegal, Mexican national Graciano Lopez-Flores, was arrested following a conviction of indecent liberties with a child in Orange County, North Carolina.
Shackled migrants board a transport van after getting off a plane at the Valley International Airport, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Harlingen, Texas. (Michael Gonzalez/AP Photo)
Commenting on the arrests, McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that "nothing—not even a government shutdown—will slow us down from making America safe again."
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
She slammed the Democratic Party, saying, "While Democrats in Congress continue to keep the government shutdown, our ICE law enforcement officers aren’t slowing down in arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-on-pace-shatter-deportation-record-end-first-year-just-the-beginning