While individuals from Central and South America continue to top the list, there is a growing number of deportations involving people from Asian countries. Since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, deportation numbers have risen sharply.
In Oklahoma, more than 2,700 people were deported during the first six months of 2025, including about 1,000 in the first quarter and another 1,700 in the second quarter. This marks a shift of more than 125% compared with the same period in 2023 and 2024.
“It is happening more and more,” said Lorena Rivas, managing attorney at Rivas & Associates. “We’re seeing more and more of the separation of families of these long-term residents being here and being taken away from their spouses and their children, despite being here for many, many, many years.”
In Oklahoma City, a father and husband originally from Vietnam, who has lived in the U.S. for 33 years, is now in immigration custody.
“So, a lot of these countries where, you know, because of the previous wars, we were not deporting people. We’re not actually sending them back,” Rivas said.
Data shows that deportation cases involving Vietnamese nationals surged in 2025, reaching levels not seen in recent years. Monthly case completions, which largely remained below 100 for much of the late 2010s and early 2020s, climbed sharply this year.
After starting at 124 cases in January, the numbers rose through the spring before peaking at 237 in June, more than double many monthly totals recorded in previous years.
The specific case of the Vietnamese man in custody reveals that his only criminal history is a marijuana charge from over a decade ago, which was expunged by a judge. Despite this, his wife said he was detained during a routine check-in with ICE on Monday.
