More than 500 illegal migrants have been arrested, with several of them deported via military aircraft, as the Trump administration begins what it has dubbed the "largest mass deportation operation in history.

A new memo obtained by the New York Times tells ICE officials they can deport migrants even if they are in the country legally under temporary protections offered by the Biden administration.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security memo provides guidance for the use of a fast-track deportation process that the Trump administration reinstated earlier this week, suggesting officers focus on migrants who failed to request asylum within a one-year deadline after arriving in the U.

The acting head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is allowing immigration enforcement agents to swiftly deport those who came to the U.S. under multiple pathways established under the Biden administration.

ICE agents have reportedly been issued a "road map on how to use expansive powers that were long reserved only for encounters at the southern border."