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What was the total number of US deportations in 2025 compared to 2024?
Executive Summary
The claim asks how total US deportations in 2025 compare with 2024; available reporting and agency summaries show 2025 removals and related departures are substantially higher than comparable 2024 figures, with multiple government and press releases in 2025 describing hundreds of thousands of removals and self-deportations versus far smaller totals reported for 2024. Precise reconciled year‑to‑year totals vary by source and methodology — ICE removals, CBP expulsions, and voluntary self‑deportations are counted differently across datasets — so any single headline number must be read against each source’s definitions and reporting lag [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Why the numbers jump and why you see different totals — Definitions and reporting delays that change the story
ICE’s public removal dataset and CBP expulsions use distinct legal authorities and do not count identical events; ICE’s “removals” include Title 8 removals and certain expedited removals handed to ICE, while CBP’s Title 42 expulsions and other encounters are tallied separately, and voluntary self‑deportations are sometimes reported by DHS as a separate category. Agency datasets are published with lags and subsequent corrections, and ICE explicitly warns removal data are published with a one‑quarter delay and may be later revised, so year‑to‑year comparisons made before datasets are locked can misstate totals [4]. That reporting architecture explains part of the apparent surge in 2025: different pieces of the enforcement apparatus are being aggregated in new ways in 2025 coverage [2].
2. What multiple 2025 sources actually report — hundreds of thousands removed, plus self‑deportations
Department of Homeland Security and related press releases in 2025 report over a half‑million removals by DHS and, when combined with voluntary self‑deportations, a total figure above two million for the period cited, with statements highlighting more than 527,000 removed and roughly 1.6 million voluntary departures in a recent DHS release [3]. Independent press reporting in 2025 also counts nearly 350,000 removals by ICE/CBP/self‑deportation since the start of the year in one analysis, and other outlets cite nearly 200,000 to 400,000 ICE/CBP deportation events depending on whether self‑deportations are included [1] [2]. The consistent signal across these 2025 reports is a materially larger flow than what is documented for 2024.
3. What 2024 looked like — smaller ICE tallies and separate CBP figures leave lower baseline numbers
ICE’s documented removals for 2024 were considerably lower when compared to the 2025 announcements: for example, ICE recorded roughly 71,400 removals in the last seven months of 2024 according to one outlet’s breakdown, and CBP monthly apprehension and expulsion tables for 2024 show much higher monthly peaks than many months in 2025, complicating simple year totals [1] [5]. When analysts compare like‑for‑like categories (ICE Title 8 removals only), 2025 still shows an increase over 2024 in the datasets cited, but comparison depends entirely on which categories are summed [4].
4. How different outlets and agencies aggregate results — competing narratives and possible agendas
DHS and administration‑issued releases emphasize aggregate removals plus voluntary departures to present a large policy success narrative, citing over 2 million people removed or self‑deported in a recent period [2] [3]. Independent outlets that obtained internal ICE data highlight operational limits, such as slower progress on priority targets and different arrest/removal mixes [6]. Readers should note the potential institutional incentive in DHS/administration releases to present the broadest possible totals, while media investigations often isolate ICE’s statutory removals to test operational performance [2] [6].
5. Bottom line and how to get a precise apples‑to‑apples comparison
The best available conclusion from the documents and reporting is that 2025 deportations and related departures are markedly higher than 2024 totals, but the exact magnitude depends on whether you include DHS‑counted voluntary self‑deportations and CBP Title 42 expulsions alongside ICE removals. For an authoritative, reconciled comparison, download the ICE quarterly removal dataset and CBP expulsions/apprehension tables and align definitions — remembering ICE data are published with a one‑quarter delay and may be revised — then compare locked fiscal‑year totals for 2024 to the finalized 2025 datasets when available [4] [5].