In the noisy arena of American immigration politics, one story is being whispered rather than shouted — and it’s a big one.
According to a report from conservative commentator Benny Johnson, who spoke with a senior Department of Homeland Security official, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is executing deportations at a pace that appears to dwarf previous publicized efforts. The numbers: more than 27,000 deportations in a single week, averaging about 3,600 per day, and tracking toward roughly 1.4 million across the calendar year.
American Thinker columnist Andrea Widburg, in a recent piece titled “Trump’s huge deportation success story,” highlights this little-noticed development as one of the administration’s most consequential — and underreported — achievements.
‘Stealth tactics’ and unmarked cars
The official’s account paints a picture of an agency deliberately operating below the radar. “We’re everywhere in every major city. We tell no one. Plain clothes. Beat up old cars. Quick work. Tactical strikes. No one sees anything. No drama. No tears. No media circus. You’re just going back home where you belong,” the source allegedly said.
That strategy, if accurate, would mark a sharp departure from the high-profile workplace raids and heavily publicized enforcement actions of earlier Trump administration efforts — and help explain why mainstream news outlets have largely missed the scale of current operations, according to Widburg.
Blue states quietly cooperating?
Perhaps the most striking claim in Johnson’s report involves cooperation from an unexpected quarter: Democratic-led states. DHS sources say blue-state governors and local law enforcement are privately assisting federal removal efforts, particularly for convicted criminals, with undocumented immigrants reportedly being dropped off with undercover ICE teams in major cities.
“The criminal alien issue has become so ‘politically toxic’ and ‘costly’ that Democrat Governors have given the green light to Sheriffs and Police Chiefs in major blue cities,” Johnson reported.
Widburg, a self-described conservative voice at American Thinker, takes a dim view of such behind-the-scenes collaboration. “They’re cowards for refusing to do this openly, and they’re hypocrites for aiding deportations but not speaking out against their party’s stance on illegal aliens in America,” she writes.
Context: A shifting political landscape
The reported surge comes after a turbulent period for immigration enforcement. Early in the year, Democrats appeared to gain momentum when two incidents — the deaths of Rebecca Good, who allegedly aimed a car at an ICE agent, and Alex Pretti, who reportedly resisted arrest before being killed — briefly turned into flashpoints for anti-ICE organizing.
But the public response, Widburg argues, never materialized into a sustained movement. “Those illegal immigrants who were killed turned out to have been engaged in violent actions against ICE agents or had heinous personal records,” she writes, noting that no marches comparable to those following George Floyd’s death occurred.
She credits the change in tone, in part, to leadership at the Department of Homeland Security. After former Secretary Kristi Noem was removed — Widburg characterizes her as prone to “grandstanding” — Tom Homan took over, and, in her telling, quietly got to work.
The Democrats, meanwhile, continue to debate ICE’s future. The Democratic National Committee recently approved competing resolutions — one calling for reform, the other for abolition — reflecting internal divisions and the influence of the Democratic Socialists of America within the party, according to American Thinker’s reporting.
A historic moment or an unverified claim?
It’s worth noting the obvious: These numbers come from a single anonymous DHS source speaking to a conservative commentator, and they have not been independently verified by major news organizations. The phrase “we can track if these numbers hold” in Johnson’s post acknowledges the speculative nature of the projection.
Still, Widburg embraces the report as “a historic white pill and exactly what MAGA voted for,” adding her own commentary on the broader immigration debate.
“It is absolutely unsustainable for a nation to be flooded with people whose first act is to violate the law, who immediately suck on the government teat (whether federal, state, or local), who are often criminally inclined, and who do not share our values and cannot or will not assimilate,” she writes.
Her column closes with a pointed wish: that once blue cities and states have been emptied of their undocumented populations, Homan will publicly thank the very Democratic politicians who quietly helped — a scenario she views as poetic justice.
For now, the claim of 27,000 weekly deportations remains an intriguing, unconfirmed report — one that, if true, could reshape the political conversation around immigration in ways neither party has fully anticipated. As the source put it: “It’s happening. You just don’t see it.”
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/trump-s-huge-deportation-success-story/