Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
During the biden administration how many illegal immigrants came to the united states
Executive summary
Counting "how many illegal immigrants came to the United States during the Biden administration" depends on which metric you use: CBP "encounters" at the southwest border (commonly cited as millions), estimates of the unauthorized resident population increase (millions), or government actions like expulsions/returns (also millions). Reported figures in the available sources include roughly 8–10+ million southern border encounters since Jan 2021 (CBP-based reporting) and analysts’ estimates that some 6.7 million to 6–10 million people “entered” or became part of the unauthorized population during the Biden years [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What people usually mean — and why the numbers vary
When public figures talk about "how many illegal immigrants came," they may mean different things: (a) Border Patrol “encounters” — each time someone is stopped or counted — which are in the millions since 2021; (b) the net increase in the unauthorized resident population inside the U.S.; or (c) total migrants paroled, expelled, removed or released. Those definitions produce very different totals and are reported by different agencies and analysts, which explains the variation in claims [1] [4] [2].
2. Border "encounters" — the most-cited official metric
Major outlets and government summaries report multi‑million encounter totals for the Biden era: for example, BBC and others cite “more than 10 million encounters” since January 2021, with about 8 million at the southwest land border specifically [1]. Commentators also cite figures around 8–8.5 million Border Patrol encounters from fiscal 2021 through parts of later years [3] [1]. These encounter counts include repeat attempts and categories like family units and unaccompanied minors, and are not a direct count of unique people who permanently remained [1] [3].
3. Estimates of how many “entered” or took up residence
Some policy witnesses and Republican committee materials have asserted that millions of people “entered and took up residence” since 2021 — figures such as 6.7 million appear in testimony and reports claiming additional unauthorized migrants during this period [2]. Other outlets and analyses note that the unauthorized population reached record levels (a Pew estimate: a record 14 million unauthorized immigrants in 2023) and that growth through mid‑2024 was driven in part by paroles and releases authorized in that period [5]. These population estimates depend on modeling, census and administrative data and can lag real‑time border counts [2] [5].
4. Returns, expulsions and enforcement actions complicate the picture
Another way to measure movement is repatriations/removals/expulsions. Migration Policy Center reported that combining removals, expulsions and other actions, the Biden administration accounted for nearly 4.4 million repatriations — a large enforcement figure that overlaps with the period of higher arrivals [6]. FactCheck and other analysts show that roughly half of border encounters in certain windows resulted in removals/expulsions while others were released or paroled, which means encounters do not equal permanent settlement [4] [6].
5. Policy changes and timing matter for totals
Several sources note that policy shifts — such as pauses or closures of parole programs, changes in asylum processing, or the end of Title 42 — changed flows and the composition of arrivals, especially in mid‑ to late‑2024, complicating any simple tally for "the Biden administration" [5] [7] [4]. For example, parole programs admitted substantial numbers early on (cited roughly 160,000 CHNV parolees by mid‑2023 and about 530,000 total CHNV parolees over time), then were halted or reduced later, affecting cumulative counts reported by analysts [5].
6. Political claims vs. analytic reviews — competing narratives
Political actors and partisan offices present different framings: Republican committee materials and opinion pieces have put forward large cumulative “entered” figures (e.g., 6.7 million or assertions that the unauthorized population doubled), while neutral fact‑checks and research organizations emphasize the difference between encounters and net population and highlight removals and expulsions as part of the total movement story [2] [3] [4]. PBS and other fact‑checkers caution against simplistic comparisons of short windows because policy shifts and seasonal patterns matter [7].
7. What the available sources do not settle
Available sources do not provide a single, uncontested number that equates “illegal immigrants who came” during Biden’s entire tenure to a definitive count of unique individuals who remained in the U.S. — instead the record contains multiple complementary measures (encounters, paroles, removals, and population estimates) that must be interpreted together [1] [4] [5] [6].
Conclusion — how to read any specific claim
If you see a headline that “X million illegal immigrants came under Biden,” check which metric is cited: CBP encounters (often ~8–10+ million cited), analysts’ estimates of people who took up residence (~6–7 million claimed in some testimony), or cumulative enforcement actions/removals (~4.4 million repatriations reported by Migration Policy Center). Each number is supported in parts by the record but measures different phenomena, so compare apples to apples before accepting a single definitive total [1] [2] [6] [4].