How many illegals did biden deport

1. What the main counts actually measure — deportations, removals, expulsions and repatriations

Reporting and official data use several technical categories: "removals" and "deportations" are often used interchangeably in media, but DHS and ICE also report "expulsions" (Title 42 and other rapid processes) and "returns"; Migration Policy combined these into "repatriations" to reach its nearly 4.4 million figure for the Biden years ^[1]. Newsweek cites DHS data saying "over 4.6 million" people were removed from January 2021 to November 2024, showing the same phenomenon: totals depend on which enforcement actions are counted ^[2].

2. Why single headline numbers can mislead — context on flows and methodology

DHS and ICE counts rise and fall with border encounters, policy choices and diplomatic cooperation; Reuters and BBC note that higher deportation totals under Biden were related in part to record border crossings and improved diplomatic steps to secure returns ^{[5] [3]}. ICE also documents data categories such as Title 42 expulsions that changed over time and that some statistics (charter flights, detainee categories) reflect specific operational channels rather than the entirety of removals ^[4].

3. Competing perspectives: administration claims vs. independent analyses

The Biden administration's higher totals have been framed by critics and successors as "artificially high" because they coincided with larger irregular arrivals (DHS spokesperson quoted by Reuters) while advocates say policy shifts actually increased returns and removals ^{[5] [3]}. Independent trackers such as TRAC and media analyses argue that day‑to‑day or apples‑to‑apples removal rates sometimes show smaller differences when properly normalized — for example, TRAC places FY2024 removals at about 271,484 and cautions about misleading comparisons ^[6].

4. Recent comparisons with the next administration — why direct comparisons are contested

After the 2024 election and into 2025, multiple actors published conflicting tallies: the White House for the new administration claimed 139,000+ deportations in its first period ^[7], while TRAC and Reuters produced lower or more cautious counts and analyses suggesting the pace was not uniformly higher than Biden's last year ^{[8] [9] [5]}. KPBS reporting on flight-tracking also found deportation flight volumes were "around the same level" as in recent Biden years for the period it examined, illustrating how different methods and windows yield divergent headlines ^[10].

5. How journalists and analysts reconcile the numbers — check definitions and timeframes

Best practice in assessing "how many illegals did Biden deport" is to: (a) pick the statistic you mean — ICE "removals" vs. DHS "expulsions" vs. combined "repatriations" — because Migration Policy's nearly 4.4 million and Newsweek's 4.6 million cover combined actions, not necessarily only formal deportations ^{[1] [2]}; (b) specify the timeframe — fiscal year vs. calendar year vs. full term — since FY2024 removals have been cited as 271,484 by TRAC ^[6]; and (c) account for flows — higher removals often accompanied higher encounters and diplomatic returns ^{[5] [3]}.

6. Limitations in available reporting and what’s not found here

Available sources do not mention a single, universally accepted count labeled plainly "Biden deported X illegal immigrants" that isolates only interior court-ordered deportations across the entire presidency without mixing expulsions, voluntary departures, or returns; instead, reporting offers multiple aggregate measures ^{[1] [2] [6]}. Where sources explicitly contest a claim (e.g., administration assertions about one administration outpacing another), TRAC and Reuters provide alternative accounting that often reduces simple-sounding claims ^{[9] [5]}.

7. Bottom line for readers seeking a crisp answer

If you mean "all removals, expulsions and returns during the Biden years," major analyses put the total in the multi‑millions (about 4.4–4.6 million according to Migration Policy and Newsweek’s reading of DHS data) ^{[1] [2]}. If you mean formal ICE deportations/removals in a fiscal year, FY2024 is frequently cited around 271,484 by analysts such as TRAC ^[6]. Any definitive single number requires you to state the precise category and timeframe before comparing administrations ^{[4] [3]}.