What percentage of migrants encountered were expelled, detained, released, or granted humanitarian parole?
Executive summary
Available government and research reports show that outcomes for migrants encountered at the U.S. southwest border vary widely by period and policy: past DHS lifecycle reporting found that over a ten‑year span, 29% of southwest border (SWB) encounters resulted in Title 42 expulsions and 24% in Title 8 returns/removals, with 2.9% granted relief or protection and roughly one‑third still being processed as of Dec. 31, 2023 [1]. More recent commentary and agency dashboards describe a sharp rise in expulsions and removals in 2024–25 and major swings in releases, detentions and parole programs, but exact FY2025 percentages for “expelled, detained, released, or granted humanitarian parole” are not consolidated in the available sources [2] [3] [4].
1. Border outcomes are reported in multiple categories — and those categories shift with policy
DHS and CBP categorize encounter outcomes differently depending on the legal authority used: Title 42 expulsions, Title 8 returns/removals, grants of protection (relief/asylum), EOIR terminations, continued processing, and unexecuted removal orders. The FY23 Enforcement Lifecycle report summarizes 10 million SWB encounters over a decade with 29% Title 42 expulsions, 24% Title 8 returns/removals, 2.9% granted relief/protection, 4.0% EOIR terminations, 33% still being processed, and 6.8% with unexecuted removal orders as of year‑end 2023 [1]. Those categories reflect both enforcement actions and pending legal processes [1].
2. Expulsions rose and fell with Title 42 and policy changes; FY2025 data show renewed emphasis on removals
Recent public dashboards and reporting indicate the government renewed large‑scale use of expulsions and fast removals into 2024–25. ICE’s published statistics describe Title 42 expulsions by ICE charter flights and note rapid expulsions to countries of last transit when possible [2]. Analysts find FY2025 enforcement shifted heavily toward expulsions, expedited removals and detentions, with CBP reportedly processing more than 94% of migrants for expedited removal, reinstatement, voluntary return, or ICE detention during parts of 2024–25 [3].
3. Detention and release figures increased but are reported in separate ICE/CBP datasets
Detention counts and “book‑ins”/“book‑outs” are tracked by ICE and by DHS’s OHSS monthly tables; these detail arrests, book‑ins (people placed into ICE custody), and book‑outs (released from custody) but are published on different cadences [5] [6]. Sources show detention populations and bookings rose in 2025, and ICE reported growing detention capacity and removals [7] [8]. However, the available materials do not provide a single, authoritative percentage breakdown for “detained” versus “released” for a specific recent period across all agencies; that level of consolidation is not present in the supplied sources [5] [9].
4. “Released” numbers spiked during 2021–2023 and then changed again in 2024–25
Pew’s analysis documents large monthly swings in releases at the border: releases averaged about 50,000 per month in mid‑2021, fell to 15,000 in Feb. 2023, then peaked at more than 190,000 in Dec. 2023 and remained high through July 2024 [4]. By late 2024–25, CBP and ICE practices shifted toward fewer releases and more expulsions, detentions and removals as enforcement posture changed [3] [4]. The supplied sources thus show that “release” rates are highly time‑dependent and tied to programmatic decisions [4] [3].
5. Humanitarian parole numbers are limited and program‑specific
Parole programs such as CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaraguan, Venezuela) previously admitted large numbers — about 530,000 CHNV parolees through mid‑2024 — but admissions under CHNV were largely halted in Aug. 2024 and virtually ended by Nov. 2024 [4]. Sources state the Biden administration stopped accepting new CHNV parole applications in Aug. 2024 and by Nov. 2024 no new CHNV paroles were admitted [4]. ICE and OHSS dashboards reference parole categories, but the available materials do not provide a current, consolidated percentage of encounters granted humanitarian parole across FY2025 [2] [5].
6. Why a single percentage breakdown is elusive — data fragmentation and policy churn
Available reporting demonstrates three reasons you won’t find a simple up‑to‑date percentage split in these sources: multiple agencies publish overlapping but non‑identical tables (CBP, ICE, OHSS) with different definitions and lags [5] [2] [9]; policy changes (Title 42 use, parole program openings/closings, expedited removal expansions) altered outcomes quickly between 2023–2025 [1] [3] [4]; and some agency dashboards publish with quarters in arrears or are “locked” only after fiscal year close, so percentages can shift as data are revised [2] [5].
7. What the sources do — and do not — answer directly
DHS’s Enforcement Lifecycle and OHSS tables give clear decade‑level and FY23 snapshot percentages (e.g., 29% Title 42 expulsions, 24% Title 8 returns/removals, 2.9% relief/protection) [1]. ICE and CBP dashboards and reporting describe large increases in expulsions, removals and detentions in 2024–25 but do not provide a single consolidated percentage table for “expelled, detained, released, or granted humanitarian parole” for the FY2025 period in the materials supplied [2] [3] [4]. Available sources do not mention a current unified percentage breakdown covering all those categories for FY2025 [5] [2] [1].
If you want a precise, single‑period percentage split, the next step is to request the specific fiscal period (e.g., FY2024, Jan–Aug 2025) and I will extract the most recent OHSS/CBP/ICE tables available from the same time window and compute a consolidated breakdown—using only the datasets you specify.