Ice director says deportations should be run like ‘Amazon Prime for human beings’

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he’d like the agency to implement a system of trucks that rounds up immigrants for deportation in a system similar to how Amazon delivers packages around the US.

“We need to get better at treating this like a business,” the acting Ice director, Todd Lyons, said. He said that he wants to see a deportation process “like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings”. His comments were first reported by the Arizona Mirror.

Lyons was one of a series of Trump administration speakers at the 2025 Border Security Expo at the Phoenix convention center. Other speakers were Trump’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, and the secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.

Speakers at the expo praised Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans, the 1798 law that was last used during the second world war to intern Japanese Americans. Noem promised to expand on its use to more efficiently deport immigrants. Lyons also called the act “amazing”.

Homan said “that is a law enacted by Congress, and we are using that”, referring to the Alien Enemies Act. At around the time of the expo, the US supreme court ruled that the Trump administration may continue using the law to deport alleged gang members.

Homan added that it “bothers him” when judges attempt to prevent him from using the act. He also said that family detention is still “on the table” as a policy.

Lyons also spoke highly of other new technology being potentially implemented in the deportation process. He expressed hopes that the agency can utilize artificial intelligence to “free up bed space” and “fill up airplanes”, allowing Ice to deport immigrants at a quicker pace.

The Ice director also said that he has been working with Elon Musk’s ”department of government efficiency” (Doge) for access to social security numbers to look for “voter fraud”.

Several speakers, Homan included, echoed the opinion of having a deportation system that is run like a business, with assurance that the Trump administration is depending on the private sector for completion of its mass deportation agenda. Many representatives from the military-industrial complex were in attendance.

“Let the badge and guns do the badge-and-gun stuff. Everything else, let’s contract out,” Homan said.

Trump campaigned heavily on implementing a system of mass deportation, and has spent his presidency so far attempting to deliver on his campaign promises. Data suggests as many as 1,400 people were arrested during or right after Ice check-ins in the first four weeks of his administration.

One of Trump’s first actions after he was sworn in for his second term was to broaden Ice’s mandate. Now all immigrants without legal status are prioritized for arrest, including those who have been checking in and cooperating with authorities.

Avelo Airlines recently said it had signed an agreement to fly federal deportation flights for the administration from Mesa, Arizona, beginning in May. Several thousand people signed a petition urging the airline to halt plans to carry out the deportation flights.

The mass deportations and ongoing cases of people being detained by Ice has caused unease and fear among immigrants and foreign visitors to the US. Recent data suggests that flight bookings between Canada and the US are down by over 70%.