Fact check: How many illegal immigrants did Biden deport

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available data, the Biden administration deported approximately 1.1 million illegal immigrants from the beginning of fiscal year 2021 through February 2024 ^[1]. When including all repatriations - which encompass deportations, expulsions, and other actions to block migrants without permission to enter the United States - the total reaches around 4.4 million ^[1].

The deportation numbers show that Biden's administration is on track to match the 1.5 million deportations carried out during Trump's four-year term ^[1]. Interestingly, recent comparative data reveals that ICE deported around 11,000 migrants in February 2024, which was actually lower than the 12,000 deported in February under the Biden administration ^[2].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several crucial contextual elements that significantly impact the interpretation of deportation numbers:

• Different types of removals are counted differently: The data includes various categories such as voluntary returns, voluntary departures, withdrawals under docket control, but excludes Title 42 expulsions ^[3]. The Biden administration carried out 775,000 unauthorized migrant removals or returns in the 12 months after Title 42 ended, with 316,000 migrants processed via expedited removal from May 2023 through March 2024 ^[1].
• Focus on recent arrivals vs. interior enforcement: When examining only immigrants who were first arrested by ICE (interior enforcement), nearly 4,300 immigrants were deported in February 2024, compared with roughly 2,100 in February under the Biden administration ^[2]. This suggests different enforcement priorities between administrations.
• Protective programs expanded simultaneously: While deportations continued, the number of immigrants protected from deportation by the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program nearly quadrupled under the Biden administration, with more than 1.4 million aliens from 16 different countries granted TPS as of January 2025 ^[4].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question, while straightforward, could lead to misleading interpretations without proper context:

• The term "illegal immigrants" is politically charged and doesn't distinguish between recent border crossers and long-term undocumented residents, which have different enforcement implications and public support levels.
• The question implies Biden deported fewer people than expected, but the data shows his administration's deportation numbers are comparable to Trump's, challenging narratives from both political sides that would benefit from portraying Biden as either too lenient or too harsh on immigration enforcement.
• Political actors across the spectrum benefit from selective presentation of these numbers: Immigration hawks can emphasize the lower interior enforcement numbers ^[2], while Biden supporters can highlight the overall deportation totals matching Trump's record ^[1]. Both perspectives serve different political constituencies without providing the full picture of a complex enforcement strategy that balanced deportations with expanded protective programs.