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How many people were deported from the US in 2024 by ICE vs CBP?
Executive summary
Available government and independent sources show that DHS components split “removals” and “returns” in different ways: ICE reported 271,484 removals in fiscal year (FY) 2024 (ICE’s own semi‑annual reporting), while DHS/CBP reported roughly 700,000 “removals and returns” for FY2024 when combining CBP returns at the border and ICE removals [1] [2]. Sources do not provide a single authoritative public table that cleanly lists “ICE deportations vs CBP deportations” for calendar year 2024 in one place; reporting conventions and agency definitions drive much of the difference [3] [4] [2].
1. A split system: ICE removals vs CBP returns — different missions, different counts
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) reports removals — people taken from ICE custody and formally removed from the United States — and ICE’s FY2024 total reported in retrospective analyses is 271,484 removals (this is the ICE removals figure cited in independent review of FY2024) [1]. By contrast, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports “removals and returns” that include expedited returns processed at the border and other border outcomes; DHS/CBP counted roughly 700,000 removals and returns for FY2024 in its public monthly updates [2]. The two numbers are not directly interchangeable because CBP’s “returns” are faster border outcomes while ICE’s “removals” are formal deportations often following detention [3] [2].
2. Why totals differ: definitions, handoffs and data systems
ICE and CBP operate different parts of the enforcement pipeline. ICE’s ERO handles interior arrests, detention, and flights out of the country; ICE notes that many detained individuals are transfers from CBP after border arrests [3]. CBP encounters at the border often resolve as expedited removals or returns that CBP tallies in its operational monthly releases; those border returns swell DHS’s aggregate “removals and returns” totals relative to ICE’s removals alone [2] [4]. The Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) and DHS persist datasets try to reconcile these flows but component reporting cadence and definitions create gaps [4].
3. Independent analysts confirm the broad split but stress caution
Migration Policy Institute and other analysts explain that DHS’s deportation picture mixes ICE removals and CBP returns, and they report multi‑year averages to show trends — for example an average of 352,000 deportations per year in FY2020–24 with ICE responsible for an average ~146,000 annually in that period — illustrating how agency shares can vary year to year [5]. The Deportation Data Project and other researchers use FOIA and cross‑agency datasets to parse the differences because DHS component reporting is sometimes inconsistent or incomplete for easy one‑line comparisons [6].
4. Fiscal year vs calendar year and headline DHS totals
Public statements and monthly CBP releases often present FY totals (CBP’s “roughly 700,000 removals and returns” refers to FY2024) while ICE’s semi‑annual tables and independent trackers may report fiscal‑year or semi‑annual removal counts [2] [1]. This makes it easy to conflate “DHS removed X people” with “ICE deported Y people” if you do not adjust for who is counting what and for which period [3] [2].
5. Where reporting is thin or inconsistent — and what that means for your question
Available sources do not publish a single reconciled public table that answers “How many people were deported from the U.S. in 2024 by ICE vs CBP” on a calendar‑year basis in one line (not found in current reporting). Instead, use ICE’s removals figure (~271,484 for FY2024 per analyses of ICE data) to represent ICE removals and CBP’s operational releases (~700,000 removals and returns for FY2024) to represent the combined border returns/removals counted by CBP and DHS — but be explicit about the difference between ICE “removals” and CBP “returns” when reporting [1] [2].
6. How to report responsibly about “deportation” numbers
Journalistic and policy clarity requires specifying: (a) which agency’s count you cite (ICE vs CBP), (b) whether you mean formal ICE removals or CBP returns/expedited removals at the border, and (c) the time window (FY vs calendar year). Researchers recommend consulting ICE’s ERO dashboards, CBP monthly updates, and OHSS persist datasets and noting that component definitions and handoffs between agencies cause the headline divergence [3] [4] [2].
If you want, I can pull together a concise table showing the comparable FY2024 figures from ICE (removals) and CBP (removals+returns) as reported in the sources above, and add wording you can use to accurately contextualize each figure.