Bidens deportations in 2024
Executive summary
In fiscal year 2024 the Biden administration carried out a surge of removals and returns that many analysts describe as the highest since 2014, with agencies recording hundreds of thousands of expulsions and expedited removals as Title 42 ended and Title 8 procedures resumed [1] [2]. That raw tally—reported variably as roughly 272,000 to as many as 685,000 depending on which measures are included—reflects competing metrics, different definitions (removals, returns, expedited removal, voluntary departures) and intense political debate about what the numbers actually mean [3] [4] [1].
1. How many deportations occurred in 2024—different counts, different meanings
Public reporting shows divergent totals because “deportation” is not a single, standardized statistic: Migration Policy notes 1.1 million deportations/returns from FY2021 through February 2024 and calls out 775,000 removals/returns in the 12 months after Title 42 ended, with 316,000 processed via expedited removal between May 2023 and March 2024 [1], while other tallies cite ICE’s FY2024 removals around 271,000–272,000 [3] [5] and a separate estimate pegs total FY2024 deportations as high as 685,000 when including a broader set of returns and transfers [4]. These differences stem from whether analysts count voluntary returns, Title 42 expulsions, expedited removals at the border, or formal removal orders [1] [6].
2. How Biden’s 2024 record compares to Trump—numbers and emphasis
Multiple analyses find Biden’s administration carried out deportation volumes that rival or exceed past Trump years on several metrics: Migration Policy and The Guardian report that deportations in 2024 were higher than any Trump year since 2014 and that ICE returned people to 192 countries in FY2024 [1] [2]. Yet other organizations, notably TRAC and fact‑checkers, caution the comparison is nuanced: TRAC shows ICE’s reported removals for FY2024 around 271,484 and argues that daily removal rates under Biden were higher than some post‑inauguration Trump claims, while independent fact‑checks note officials sometimes conflate different time windows and metrics when asserting “record” claims [5] [3] [6].
3. Who was targeted and how enforcement shifted
Observers emphasize that a defining feature of the period was the focus on recent border arrivals and expedited processes—returns and expedited removals increased, and many departures were voluntary or administrative rather than full removal orders—so the composition of deportations shifted toward recent entrants rather than interior criminal removals [1] [7]. ICE’s own reporting showed fewer interior arrests even as total deportations rose, a pattern highlighted by The Guardian and Migration Policy which suggests resources concentrated on border processing and expedited pathways after Title 42 ended [2] [1].
4. Political framing, data disputes and hidden agendas
The numbers have become a political football: proponents of tougher enforcement cite headline deportation totals to argue Biden was permissive then acted decisively, while critics point to reduced interior arrests and the prevalence of returns over removal orders to argue administration rhetoric overstates public‑safety targeting [2] [5] [7]. Independent groups such as TRAC and fact‑checkers have accused administrations of cherry‑picking or mislabeling metrics—TRAC calls some public claims “gross exaggerations” when apples‑to‑apples comparisons aren’t made—revealing an institutional incentive on all sides to frame statistics to fit policy narratives [3] [5].
5. What remains uncertain and why it matters
Key uncertainties persist because public datasets omit granular, timely breakdowns—official releases often lag and definitions vary—so analysts cannot definitively settle whether Biden’s 2024 deportation pace was higher in every meaningful sense or simply redistributed who and how people were removed [4] [6]. That lack of clarity matters for policymaking and public debate: counting voluntary departures the same as court‑ordered removals, or Title 42 expulsions the same as Title 8 removals, produces very different assessments of enforcement priorities and human impact [1] [3].