What are the year‑by‑year removal totals by fiscal year from 1993–2024 in DHS/ICE public datasets?
Executive summary
A complete year‑by‑year table of "removals" for FY1993–FY2024 exists within DHS/ICE public datasets, but the exact numeric series must be pulled from the published DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) yearbooks and ICE's removals files because the reporting platforms and files contain revisions, differing definitions (removals vs. returns), and multiple releases that affect totals [1] [2] [3]. The most reliable path is to extract FY1993–FY2024 totals from OHSS Yearbook tables and the ICE removals dataset (using the corrected late‑July release flagged by the Deportation Data Project) while noting caveats about Title 42 expulsions, administrative returns, and dataset revisions [4] [5] [6].
1. What is being requested and where DHS/ICE publishes it
The user asks for year‑by‑year removal totals by fiscal year from 1993 through 2024 as reported in DHS/ICE public datasets; DHS’s OHSS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics contains historical annual tables of removals and returns and is the primary official source for long‑run fiscal‑year counts [4] [1]. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations publishes contemporary dashboards and removals datasets that include data through December 31, 2024 and are intended for public use, but ICE also issues periodic updates and data files that the public‑interest community often reprocesses [2] [7].
2. Why a simple copy‑paste of numbers isn’t provided here
The available reporting indicates that removals counts have been subject to multiple dataset versions, late corrections, and differences in what is counted as a "removal" versus a "return" or Title 42 expulsion; for example, OHSS and ICE separate enforcement returns from administrative returns for later years, and data files have been revised mid‑release [8] [6] [5]. Independent monitors (Deportation Data Project) flagged that some ICE early releases omitted or misclassified FY2024 observations and recommended using the late‑July ICE removals file instead, underscoring that ad hoc releases can misstate the annual totals unless the corrected file is used [5].
3. How to obtain the FY1993–FY2024 removal totals (step‑by‑step)
Pull FY1993–FY2019 totals from the OHSS Yearbook table "Aliens Removed or Returned" (Table 39 and analogous tables) which documents the long series and methodology notes for earlier years [4] [1]; for FY2020–FY2024, combine the OHSS Yearbook 2024 tables with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations removals dataset (using the late‑July corrected removals file that matches ICE’s annual reporting) to create a continuous FY1993–FY2024 series [1] [5] [2]. Journalistic and research best practice is to download the cited tables (OHSS yearbook pages and the ICE removals CSV from the ICE statistics portal) and to document which ICE release/version was used because ICE notes that its data "fluctuate until 'locked' at the conclusion of the fiscal year" [2] [6].
4. Important definitional and methodological caveats readers must accept
"Removals" reported by ICE/OHSS can exclude certain expedited removals, administrative returns, or Title 42 expulsions depending on the file and vintage; DHS and ICE provide separate counts for removals and returns in later years and advise users that data are subject to changes due to operational corrections and system updates [8] [6]. The Deportation Data Project’s review shows that different ICE release dates produced materially different FY2024 totals until a corrected late‑July file brought the numbers into alignment with ICE’s annual report, which means any researcher must annotate which ICE release they used [5] [9].
5. Which dataset to rely on and why
For authoritative historical continuity, OHSS Yearbook tables represent the canonical published annual series for removals and returns [4] [1]; for the most recent fiscal years through FY2024, use ICE’s official statistics portal dashboards and the removals dataset that ICE published as of December 31, 2024, cross‑checked against the Deportation Data Project’s recommendation to use the late‑July corrected removals file when assembling FY2024 totals [2] [5]. Transparency demands that any published table cite the exact OHSS table name and the ICE file/version used, and note exclusions such as Title 42 expulsions or administrative returns where applicable [6] [8].
6. Bottom line and next steps for an exact numeric series
An exact FY1993–FY2024 numeric series can and should be constructed from OHSS Yearbook tables (for FY1993–FY2019 and 2024 Yearbook material) combined with ICE’s removals dataset through December 31, 2024, using the corrected ICE release recommended by the Deportation Data Project; the public sources cited above are the authoritative starting points and must be downloaded and aggregated with attention to versioning and definitional notes [4] [1] [2] [5].