The New York Times reported that the Trump administration is evaluating proposals to use ships to deport immigrants from the United States — a plan whose vessel count, cost, and timeline have not been made public.

The administration has not released a vessel inventory, cost projection, deployment date, or the agency that would operate any maritime fleet. No executive order, ICE memorandum, or Department of Homeland Security rule on ship-based removal has been published. The White House did not respond to requests for comment, according to the report.

How does the current U.S. removal system work?

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moves foreign nationals with final orders of removal through three primary modes:

• Charter aircraft operated by ICE Air Operations from a hub in Texas
• Government-owned planes assigned to ICE and the Department of Defense, mostly Boeing narrow-bodies for long-distance flights
• Ground transport, including buses that transfer Mexican nationals across the southern land border — the single most-used removal route

A ship-based operation would add a fourth transport mode. Maritime transit can carry more passengers per trip than a narrow-body aircraft, but typical sailings are longer than flights.

Has the U.S. used ships in immigration enforcement before?

Vessels have appeared in enforcement operations at several points in the 20th and 21st centuries:

• Operation Wetback (1954): An Eisenhower-era campaign that used ships to return Mexican nationals to interior Mexican cities
• Haitian interdictions (1981–1993): U.S. Coast Guard returns of Haitian migrants intercepted at sea
• Guantánamo Bay operations (1991–1993): Use of the U.S. naval base to house and screen Haitian and Cuban migrants
• 2025 Guantánamo expansion: A Trump-administration expansion of a Migrant Operations Center at the base, with stated capacity of up to 30,000 detainees

The current proposal, as described in the Times report, would treat vessels as transport rather than as detention sites, distinguishing it from the Guantánamo precedent.

What have officials said publicly?

Donald Trump, during his 2024 campaign and in a December 2024 NBC News interview, pledged to carry out "the largest domestic deportation operation in American history."

Tom Homan, the administration's border czar, told reporters in February 2025: "We're going to start with the criminals, the national security threats, and then we'll work our way down." He named individuals with final orders of removal as the priority.

Neither statement refers directly to ship-based removal. Both outline the operating environment in which the proposal sits.

Who would the proposal affect and what steps change?

If implemented, the proposal would apply to foreign nationals already subject to final orders of removal. It would not change:

• Asylum eligibility standards
• Credible-fear screening at the border
• Appeal rights through the Board of Immigration Appeals
• Withholding-of-removal and Convention Against Torture protections

A migrant subject to removal today continues to have the same statutory avenues tomorrow.

What legal questions would arise?

A maritime removal operation would raise several statutory and logistical questions that no public document has yet addressed:

• Whether the 2011 National Detention Standards and 2019 Prison Rape Elimination Act standards would apply to vessels in international waters
• Whether the Posse Comitatus Act would limit Department of Defense involvement in any escort or transport role
• Whether bilateral agreements with destination countries would need to be updated to permit sea arrivals
• Which federal agency would have operational command of the vessel

Where can readers find authoritative updates?

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — ice.gov/news
• Department of Homeland Security — dhs.gov/news
• Federal Register — federalregister.gov (executive orders and rules)
• Executive Office for Immigration Review — uscourts.gov

Anyone with an immigration case should consult a licensed attorney or a BIA-accredited representative. News reporting does not substitute for individualized legal advice.