Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said more than 1.6 million immigrants without legal status have left the United States since President Donald Trump began his second term in January, crediting a mix of stepped-up enforcement and voluntary departures. The figure, disclosed in mid-August remarks, would mark one of the fastest recorded declines in the unauthorized population. Noem’s statement broadly aligns with a Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey, which estimates the undocumented population has fallen by 1.6 million and the overall foreign-born population by about 2.2 million in the past six months. The think tank’s research director, Steven Camarota, said the trend, if sustained, could produce the first annual drop in the foreign-born population in nearly a century. Behind the decline is a sharp increase in removals. Conservative commentators citing internal data say Immigration and Customs Enforcement is averaging more than 1,400 deportations a day—roughly triple the rate under the Biden administration and on pace to surpass the Obama-era peak. ICE is also recruiting thousands of new agents after Congress approved a multibillion-dollar expansion this summer. Other metrics present a more mixed picture. ICE arrest totals slipped to 27,483 in July from 31,597 in June, lowering the daily average to 886, and a Cato Institute review found 65 percent of the more than 200,000 arrests since the fiscal year began in October 2024 involved people with no criminal record. Economists have warned that a shrinking migrant workforce could shave up to 1 percent from 2025 growth, while supporters of the crackdown say it will ease pressure on schools, hospitals and other public services.