Year-by-year breakdown: How many removals did the U.S. record in each fiscal year from 2017 through 2020?

1. The headline numbers, year by year

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) reported 220,649 removals for fiscal year 2017, 252,405 removals for FY2018, and 262,591 removals for FY2019 in its FY2020 reporting (these figures are presented by ICE/ERO in its annual materials) ^[1]. The Department of Homeland Security’s Yearbook table that aggregates removals, returns, and expulsions reports FY2020 removals at 185,884, a decline from 2019 driven by pandemic-era restrictions and operational changes at the border ^{[2] [1]}.

2. Why the drop in FY2020 is meaningful, not merely arithmetic

The downturn in removals in FY2020 reflects more than routine year-to-year variance: pandemic-imposed travel and public-health controls, and the operational use of Title 42 expulsions at the Southwest border, changed how and where people were processed and recorded, leading to fewer confirmed ICE removals even as overall border encounters and expulsions remained high under different statutory authorities ^{[2] [3]}. GAO’s analysis likewise flags that removals declined from 2019 through 2021 before rebounding, underscoring that FY2020 was an outlier period for enforcement statistics ^[3].

3. Counting rules and “lag” effects complicate comparisons

ICE and DHS lock removal statistics at fiscal-year-end and apply an “action date” methodology that can exclude removals confirmed after the lock date, so published year-to-year totals can reflect reporting lags and methodological adjustments as well as operational reality ^{[1] [4]}. DHS’s Yearbook and ICE’s ERO statistics are the primary sources for these totals, but both note that estimates for CBP/USBP removals and returns involve linking records across systems and are subject to revision ^{[2] [4]}.

4. What these numbers do — and do not — tell readers about “deportations”

The DHS/ICE totals cited above reflect formal removals (orders executed and departures confirmed) and should not be conflated with broader counts that mix removals, returns, and expulsions at the border under Title 42 or other administrative authorities; some media and political claims citing multi-million “deportation” totals for 2017–2020 aggregate those different metrics, which changes the meaning of the figure ^{[2] [5]}. Analysts and watchdogs (GAO, DHS Yearbook) emphasize that different categories — removals, returns, expulsions — are recorded separately and that aggregating them without noting definitions can mislead ^{[3] [2]}.

5. Alternative interpretations and the agendas behind them

Advocates, think tanks, and political actors sometimes present totals in ways that support policy narratives: some groups combine removals plus returns and expulsions to produce larger “deportation” counts, while others focus solely on ICE removals to highlight enforcement efficacy or decline; the underlying data sources (ICE annual reports, DHS Yearbook tables, GAO reviews) are transparent about definitions, and the differences in presentation normally reflect differing agendas more than disputes over raw operational counts ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

6. Bottom line for reporters and researchers

For FY2017–FY2019, ICE’s own reporting lists removals of 220,649 , 252,405 , and 262,591 ; FY2020 shows a material drop to 185,884 removals in DHS Yearbook reporting amid pandemic-era operational shifts and Title 42 expulsions that altered processing and counting ^{[1] [2] [3]}. When comparing years, always check whether a source is citing removals only or a composite of removals, returns, and expulsions — the difference is consequential for interpretation ^{[2] [1]}.