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Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons revealed that there are about 1.6 million illegal aliens with final deportation orders in the U.S., half of whom have criminal convictions.
During testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, Lyons said, “What we’re tracking right now is about 1.6 million final [deportation] orders in the United States, with approximately 800,000 of those having criminal convictions.”
Lyons clarified that these deportation orders have not been issued by ICE or the Department of Homeland Security. Rather, Lyons said the orders have come “through an immigration judge with the Department of Justice separate from Immigration Customs Enforcement.”
The director added that “there’s 16,840 final orders at large in the state of Minnesota.”
ACTING ICE DIRECTOR DEFENDS AGENCY’S FOCUS ON TARGETING CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIENS, DETAILS THREAT TO AGENTS
Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2026. Lawmakers pressed Lyons on immigration enforcement tactics, body camera use and accountability following recent incidents in Minnesota. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Lyons revealed this during questioning by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. Lankford asked Lyons to communicate his gratitude to the men and women in immigration enforcement, commenting, “Two years ago, we had 10,000 people a day illegally crossing into the country, two years ago, 10,000 people a day not vetted, had no idea who they were.”
Lankford also pointed out that “70,000 people were estimated by the Biden administration to come in in 2024 that were special interest aliens that had a locational connection to terrorism.”
“But we had no idea who they were. They were allowed to be able to come into the country two years ago,” he lamented.
SCOOP: THOUSANDS OF VIOLENT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED IN MINNESOTA AS ADMIN VOWS ‘WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN’
A U.S. Border Patrol agent watches over more than 2,000 migrants at a field processing center on December 18, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
This comes as ICE faces intense criticism from Democrats over their operations, especially in Minnesota, where two activists, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed in altercations with federal officers. Democrats have threatened defund DHS unless the agency changes its approach to enforcement.
Lankford remarked, “We’re losing perspective of what’s really happened.”
“The work that the men and women that work around you have done have stopped that chaos,” Lankford said to Lyons.
TRUMP DHS HAMMERS DEM GOVERNOR’S PORTAL TO TRACK ICE AGENTS: ‘ENCOURAGES VIOLENCE’
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conduct an arrest in Chicago, Illinois, on January 26, 2025. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS)
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“There are thousands of arrests that are happening in a day that are happening by the book,” he continued. “And what’s happening is a group of protesters that are protesting and agitating, and some of them running into churches and disturbing church services and saying, ‘It’s my First Amendment right to shut down your church during a service.’ And saying they’re a peaceful protester while they throw rocks at agents, it just gets old.”
