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How many illegal migrants have been deported from the US in 2024?
Executive summary
Available reporting gives two common figures for 2024 removals: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports 271,484 deportations in fiscal year (FY) 2024 (Oct. 1, 2023–Sept. 30, 2024) [1]. Department of Homeland Security components (CBP/DHS) report a much larger total — roughly 700,000 “removals and returns” for FY2024 — a broader category that includes expulsions and returns handled at the border [2]. Coverage uses different definitions and timeframes; that produces the divergent totals in public discussion [3] [2].
1. Two headline numbers — different concepts, different agencies
ICE’s annual enforcement report states 271,484 people were deported to 192 countries in FY2024, and many news outlets repeated that as “deportations” [1] [3]. By contrast, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and DHS’s monthly summaries use the term “removals and returns” and report roughly 700,000 such actions in FY2024 — a larger, more inclusive tally that captures border expulsions and returns in addition to ICE removals [2]. Journalists and analysts point to both numbers, but they are not interchangeable: ICE’s figure is a narrower count of ICE removals, while DHS/CBP’s figure bundles multiple operational categories [3] [2].
2. Why the totals diverge — definitions and where the action happened
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) tracks removals it carries out in the interior and through formal removal processes; that is the source of the ~271,000 figure cited by Reuters, Axios and others [3] [1]. DHS and CBP count “removals and returns” at the southwest border and other ports of entry — including expedited expulsions or returns under border authorities — which boosts the total toward ~700,000 for FY2024 [2]. Migration Policy and research outlets emphasize that expedited removal, returns, expulsions and parole processing inflate the broader DHS totals relative to ICE-only removals [4] [2].
3. Fiscal vs. calendar year and the reporting window matter
The most-cited ICE number covers the federal fiscal year (Oct. 1–Sept. 30). Media outlets explicitly reported 271,484 deportations in that FY2024 window [1] [3]. Other trackers or summaries sometimes report calendar‑year or partial-year counts, and CBP’s monthly updates present ongoing totals; mixing fiscal and calendar counts without noting the window produces apparent contradictions [1] [2].
4. Context: a decade-high and who was deported
Multiple outlets frame 2024 as the highest ICE deportation total in nearly a decade — surpassing prior years under both administrations — and attribute the rise to increased border encounters and diplomatic arrangements to accept returnees [3] [5]. ICE’s FY2024 report also says about one-third of those removed had criminal charges or convictions (about 88,763 of the ICE removals), according to media summaries of the agency data [1].
5. Broader tallies used by researchers and advocacy groups
Some research organizations and data aggregators present larger removal counts by combining ICE removals, CBP returns/expulsions, and Title 42-era expulsions or self-deportations; examples in the reporting show estimates ranging from several hundred thousand to over one million depending on inclusion criteria [6] [4]. Migration Policy noted that from FY2021 through Feb. 2024 authorities processed millions of encounters and over a million removals/returns in some aggregated views, underscoring how methodology shapes totals [4].
6. What the sources do not say or disputes in reporting
Available sources do not mention a single authoritative “illegal migrants deported in 2024” number that unambiguously covers every category and calendar; instead, agencies publish different series with different scopes [1] [2]. Some later government claims and advocacy figures (e.g., rapid post‑Jan 2025 removal claims) appear in reporting but cover different periods and actions and are not part of the FY2024 ICE or CBP summaries cited above [7] [8].
7. How to read headlines and what to cite if you answer directly
If asked for one concise 2024 figure, cite the context: ICE reports 271,484 deportations in FY2024 (Oct. 1, 2023–Sept. 30, 2024) and CBP/DHS reports roughly 700,000 removals and returns in FY2024 — explain that they measure different enforcement actions and timeframes [1] [2]. Analysts (migration policy, Reuters, Baker Institute) recommend stating which definition you mean — ICE “deportations” versus DHS/CBP “removals and returns” — to avoid conflating distinct datasets [4] [3].
Limitations: this summary uses the ICE and DHS/CBP public tallies and contemporaneous reporting available in the provided material; other sources or later government releases may refine these counts, but those are not included in the current set of documents [1] [2].