Fact check: How many immigrants were deported by Biden?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available data, the Biden administration deported approximately 1.5 million people from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024 ^[1]. The most recent complete fiscal year data shows that 271,000 unauthorized immigrants were deported in fiscal year 2024, which represents the largest number of undocumented immigrants deported in nearly a decade ^{[2] [1]}.

This FY 2024 figure surpassed the Trump-era high of 267,000 deportations in 2019 ^[1]. When comparing daily averages, Biden's administration averaged 742 deportations per day in FY 2024, while Trump's daily removals averaged 661 during his recent return to office (January 26 to March 8, 2025), making Trump's rate 10.9 percentage points lower than Biden's record ^[3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several important contextual elements:

• Historical comparison: The data shows Biden's deportation numbers exceeded Trump's previous records, contradicting common political narratives that portray Trump as having higher deportation rates ^{[1] [3]}.
• Timing and policy evolution: The question doesn't account for how deportation numbers varied across Biden's term, with ICE deporting more than 270,000 people in the 12-month period ending in September, representing the highest annual tally in a decade ^[4].
• Current political dynamics: Recent data shows that Trump deported fewer people in February 2025 (around 11,000) than Biden did in February 2024 ^{[5] [6]}, despite campaign promises of increased enforcement ^[7].

Political stakeholders who benefit from emphasizing different aspects of these numbers include:

• Democratic politicians who can point to Biden's record-high deportation numbers to counter criticism about border security
• Republican politicians who may downplay these statistics while focusing on border crossings and policy rhetoric
• Immigration advocacy groups on both sides who use these numbers to support their respective positions on enforcement

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question, while factually neutral, omits the comparative context that Biden's deportation numbers actually exceeded Trump's previous records ^{[1] [3]}. This absence of context could perpetuate misconceptions about relative enforcement levels between administrations.

The question also doesn't specify timeframes, which is crucial since deportation rates varied significantly across Biden's presidency and recent data shows Trump's current deportation pace is actually lower than Biden's FY 2024 average ^[3]. Without this temporal context, the raw numbers can be misleading when used in political discourse about immigration enforcement effectiveness.