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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attempted to deport nearly 300 veterans and their family members in Donald Trump’s first year back in office, according to new data released by Democratic lawmakers, despite protections offered to those officers when they joined the military.
Between Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2025, and January 26, 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 125 people who were former members of the Armed Forces — two thirds of whom did not have active criminal warrants at the time of arrest.
In that same period of time, ICE placed 282 veterans and their immediate family members into deportation proceedings. DHS’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also issued Notices to Appear, which are often the first step in the deportation procedure, to over 100 immediate family members of veterans after barring them from using immigration benefits known as Parole in Place afforded to military members and veterans.
The data was provided by DHS in response to an inquiry last year led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Illinois), and released by lawmakers on Tuesday. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) and Maggie Goodlander (D-New Hampshire) also led the investigation.
“The Trump Administration continues to make clear that, in order to meet their arbitrary, inhumane deportation quotas, they are willing to attack those who have worn the uniform and risked their lives. It is an unacceptable betrayal of veterans and their families,” said Ramirez in a statement.
The lawmakers point out that ICE rescinded its longstanding practice of recognizing military service as a “mitigating factor” in enforcement decisions in April. Instead, it put in place a policy saying that “military service alone does not automatically exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws” — though DHS has arrested and attempted to deport many people who have committed no criminal or immigration violations at all.
Despite the new policies, the military is still offering protection for people who join, using Parole in Place as a recruiting tool for those wishing to protect their family members.
“Donald Trump’s way of thanking our veterans for their service is by targeting and deporting them and their families,” said Warren. “The Trump administration must be held accountable for this betrayal.”
Reports of veterans being detained by immigration agents have been horrific.
Earlier this month, an Afghanistan war veteran, Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal, died just one day after being detained by ICE, according to veterans advocacy group #AfghanEvac.
ICE said that he was transported to the hospital with complaints of shortness of breath and chest pain; Paktyawal’s wife told #AfghanEvac that immigration agents denied her attempts to pass her husband a rescue inhaler while they were arresting him.
And last year, a Purple Heart recipient, Sae Joon Park, was forced to flee the U.S. to South Korea under threats of deportation by the administration, despite having been cleared to stay by a judge and not having lived in South Korea since he was 7 years old.
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