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What is the current daily average of deportations by ICE in 2025?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows substantial increases in ICE removals during 2025 but no single, consistently published “current daily average” figure from ICE for all of 2025 is present in the provided sources; estimates and partial tallies from trackers and researchers put daily removals anywhere from the low hundreds to more than a thousand depending on period and method of counting (examples: TRAC-derived semi‑monthly averages and Migration Policy’s summary that deportations doubled from ~600 to ~1,200 daily by mid‑2025) [1] [2]. Government dashboards and ICE semi‑monthly releases have been irregular in 2025, forcing journalists and watchdogs to derive daily averages from patchy data [3] [4].
1. What the official ICE data releases say — and what they don’t
ICE continues to publish detention management statistics periodically, and some removal counts are tallied in those releases, but ICE stopped maintaining a fully transparent, continuously updated public dashboard after January 2025; as a result, comprehensive, easily comparable daily‑average removal numbers for all of 2025 are not directly available from ICE in the format the public once used [5] [3]. Oversight projects therefore rely on semi‑monthly releases, OHSS monthly tables, or FOIA responses to reconstruct removal totals [6] [7].
2. Independent trackers’ estimates — varied methods, varied results
Watchdogs and academic projects have calculated daily removal averages by subtracting cumulative counts across reporting periods or by dividing removals in a reporting window by days covered. TRAC and the Deportation Data Project have used ICE semi‑monthly releases and FOIA data to derive new removals per period and then compute daily averages; those derived averages differ by timeframe and by whether they include CBP removals as well as ICE removals [1] [7]. The Guardian and Migration Policy analyses also compile ICE releases to show trends but emphasize that the underlying ICE reporting cadence changed in 2025 [5] [2].
3. Examples that illustrate the scale — “hundreds” to “over a thousand” per day
Some sources reporting on mid‑2025 trends cite numbers suggesting big jumps: Migration Policy summarized that ICE daily deportations rose from roughly 600 in January to about 1,200 since June 2025, characterizing a doubling in removals per day during that interval [2]. Other compilations and tracker‑based reconstructions place monthly averages in the low tens of thousands (for example, an analysis that derived ~14,700 removals per month since February 2025, which equates to roughly 490 removals per day for that span) [8]. These differing snapshots reflect different windows, inclusion criteria and data sources [2] [8].
4. Why the numbers diverge — definitions, sources and reporting gaps
Disagreements arise because trackers may count only ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removals, or combine ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) removals; some counts include “deportations” plus voluntary returns or removals to third countries; and ICE’s own releases shifted in timing and completeness in 2025, which forces researchers to interpolate between partial releases or rely on FOIA replies and the Office of Homeland Security Statistics monthly tables [7] [6] [4]. The Marshall Project and others note that when ICE’s public dataset gaps appear, reconstructing removals requires cross‑checking bookings, detention counts and flight monitoring — each with its own limits [4] [9].
5. What journalists caution about official claims
Journalists and researchers flag that administration statements about cumulative removal totals have been questioned; NPR and others report skepticism among trackers regarding government claims (for example, a cited government tally of 139,000 removals as of April 2025 prompted doubts and calls for verification) [10]. The Guardian and Marshall Project emphasize the need for continued public documentation because ICE reporting became less consistent after January 2025 [5] [4].
6. Practical takeaway and best next steps for a precise current number
There is no single authoritative “current daily average” number published continuously by ICE for all of 2025 in the cited sources; instead rely on period‑specific reconstructions: use OHSS monthly tables or ICE’s semi‑monthly releases where available and divide removals in that reporting window by days covered, or consult TRAC and the Deportation Data Project’s derived tables for semi‑monthly/daily averages — but expect variation by method and timeframe [6] [1] [7]. If you need a precise up‑to‑date daily average, request the most recent ICE semi‑monthly detention/removals release or the OHSS Persist dataset and specify the exact date range to be converted to a per‑day figure [6] [7].
Limitations: reporting gaps and inconsistent public dashboards in 2025 mean all daily‑average figures you encounter should be checked against the exact reporting window and whether the count includes CBP, ICE ERO, voluntary returns or third‑country transfers [5] [3] [4].