Fact check: How many people were deported under Biden compared to Trump?

1. Summary of the results

The deportation numbers between the Biden and Trump administrations reveal a complex picture that depends on how deportations are measured and which time periods are compared.

Biden Administration Performance:

• The Biden administration achieved 272,000 removals in FY 2024, significantly outpacing Trump's numbers ^[1]
• Over a 12-month period after Title 42 ended, Biden's administration removed or returned 775,000 unauthorized migrants, marking the highest number since 2010 ^[2]
• From FY 2021 to FY 2024, the Biden administration conducted approximately 1.5 million deportations ^[3]
• Biden's monthly average in his last full year was 57,000 removals and returns ^[4]

Trump Administration Performance:

• Trump's actual removal numbers were around 72,000, with a daily rate approximately 1% below Biden's average ^[1]
• In Trump's first month back in office ^[5], he deported 37,660 people, which is significantly lower than Biden's monthly averages ^[4]
• The total Trump administration deportations were comparable to Biden's 1.5 million figure ^[3]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several critical pieces of context are absent from the original question:

Methodological Differences:

• The Biden administration focused primarily on deportations at the border rather than in the U.S. interior, which represents a significant shift in enforcement strategy ^[6]
• The comparison becomes complicated because different administrations may count "removals," "returns," and "deportations" differently

Policy Context:

• The Biden administration's high numbers occurred after Title 42 ended, suggesting that policy changes significantly impacted deportation rates ^[2]
• Trump's administration is expected to increase deportations in coming months with help from Central American country agreements and military-assisted deportation flights ^[4]

Timeline Considerations:

• The analyses show that Biden's administration is "on track to carry out as many removals and returns as the Trump administration did during his four years in office" ^[2], but this comparison spans different time periods and policy environments

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question, while seemingly straightforward, contains several potential sources of bias:

Oversimplification: The question assumes deportation numbers can be directly compared without considering the vastly different policy contexts, legal frameworks, and global circumstances each administration faced.

Missing Temporal Context: The question doesn't specify which Trump presidency period is being referenced, as Trump served both 2017-2021 and returned to office in 2025, with dramatically different deportation rates between these periods.

Definitional Ambiguity: The term "deported" can encompass various types of removals, returns, and expulsions, and different administrations may emphasize different metrics to present their enforcement records more favorably.

Political Framing: Both administrations have incentives to present their deportation numbers in ways that serve their political narratives - Trump emphasizing tough enforcement and Biden balancing humanitarian concerns with border security, making raw numbers potentially misleading without proper context.