President Donald Trump campaigned hard on border security and mass deportations — and his efforts in the White House have already yielded results. Not only have illegal border crossings hit all-time record lows, but the threat of mass deportations has drug traffickers, gang members, and human smugglers running scared.

According to Alfredo Corchado, executive editor at the Puente News Collaborative, human smugglers (often called “coyotes”) known for sneaking illegal immigrants across the border “are now offering packages where people can go back home.” He told the Council on Foreign Relations last week that some illegal immigrants “want to go home, or you want to go back to Honduras, or maybe you don’t want to go back to Honduras because it’s too dangerous — you don’t want to go to Guatemala, but maybe you want to go to Costa Rica,” so coyotes are “offering these packages where you can just go back home.” He added, “Not all of them are taking it,” but noted that “many” illegal immigrants are.

Illegal immigrants are also “self-deporting,” with the help of the Trump administration. Under the previous administration, illegal immigrants came into the country en masse using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One app, which allowed immigrants to schedule appointments at U.S. ports of entry. Many simply failed to show up for those appointments after being granted entry to the country. Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reconfigured and relaunched the program, now called CBP Home, to allow those in the country illegally to leave voluntarily before being rounded up and deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to a report from Alabama-based 1819 News, many illegal immigrants whose home countries are riddled with gang violence are choosing to self-deport, so that they can choose their own destinations, rather than be sent back to the countries they fled.

However, ICE is still continuing mass deportations, focusing its efforts on violent criminals and those affiliated with gangs, cartels, and foreign terrorist organizations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed on Monday that more members of Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) have been arrested and deported to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has agreed to imprison illegal immigrants deported by the U.S. Both the El Venezuela-based TdA and El Salvador-based MS-13 have been officially designated foreign terrorist organizations by the State Department. Rubio thanked Bukele and El Salvador’s government “for their unparalleled partnership in making our countries safe against transnational crime and terrorism.” Bukele stated that all those deported and now imprisoned in El Salvador “are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders, including six child rapists.”

The president confirmed last week that law enforcement has also arrested Henry Josue Villatoro Santos, a top MS-13 official. Touting the arrest at a press conference, Trump quipped, “We’re getting rid of some of the worst criminals in the world.” The task force responsible for Villatoro’s arrest has arrested over 340 illegal immigrants — most of them violent criminals — in Virginia this month alone. The task force includes the FBI and ICE; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF); Virginia State Police; and local law enforcement authorities.

The Trump administration’s deportation efforts have also been expanded beyond just violent offenders. For example, ICE recently confirmed that Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez have been deported after having lived in the U.S. illegally for 35 years. The couple entered the U.S. illegally in 1989 and were given an order for voluntary removal by a federal immigration court in 2000. They appealed the decision for another 20 years until the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit closed their case in 2022, denying any further appeals.

Despite frequent criticism from media outlets and Democrat-appointed federal judges, the president’s deportation agenda has proven wildly popular amongst Americans. According to a CBS News poll released Monday, 53% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, while a stronger 58% approve of the president’s “program to deport immigrants illegally in the U.S.” A previous survey from Rasmussen Reports found that 64% of Americans support the president’s plans to deport TdA members specifically.

Not everyone supports mass deportations, though. Mayor Malik Evans (D) of Rochester, New York, recently condemned several city police officers who assisted ICE and CBP with arresting illegal immigrants. “Our policy is crystal clear. City police officers do not help or participate in federal immigration activities,” Evans said after Rochester Police Department officers responded to a call for backup from ICE agents. Border czar and former ICE chief Tom Homan defended the officers. In a social media post, Homan said, “I stand with the officers of the Rochester, New York Police Department that answered the emergency assistance call from the U.S Border Patrol. The men and women of the Border Patrol have never refused the request for assistance from any law enforcement agency when they are available.” He commented, “That is the way it should be.” The border czar continued, “Law enforcement officers should not be abandoned in their time of need because of politics. Sanctuary policies endanger our police and the public.”