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Fact check: How many deporations occourd under bill clinton '

Checked on September 11, 2025

1. Summary of the results

The number of deportations that occurred under President Bill Clinton's presidency is a matter of varying estimates and interpretations. According to [1], President Clinton deported 12.3 million people during his presidency, with the majority being returns where immigrants chose to leave the U.S. at the border without further repercussions [1]. Similarly, [1] also states that President Bill Clinton deported 12.3 million people during his presidency, with the majority being 'returns' where immigrants chose to leave the U.S. at the border without further repercussions [1]. However, [2] provides a more conservative estimate, stating that under President Bill Clinton, there were 863,958 deportations from 1993 to 2000, with an annual average of 107,994 and a daily average of 296 over 8 years [2]. Furthermore, [3] reports the number of removals and returns for each fiscal year, including during Clinton's presidency, with 42,469 deportations in FY 1993 and 188,467 deportations in FY 2000 [3]. [4] provides historical data on deportations, stating that from 1990-2018, Democratic presidents, including Clinton, removed an average of 246,006 people per year, and that Clinton removed an average of 1.86% of the estimated illegal immigrant population each year [4].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Some sources, such as [5] and [6], do not provide a specific number of deportations that occurred under Bill Clinton's presidency, but instead discuss his proposed federal budget for 1996 and the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which increased the potential penalties faced by immigrants and expanded the number of crimes for which immigrants could be deported [5] [6]. Additionally, [7] discusses the impact of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act on immigration policy and the increase in border apprehensions during the 1990s, but does not provide a specific number of deportations [7]. These sources highlight the need to consider the broader context of immigration policy and enforcement during Clinton's presidency, rather than just focusing on the number of deportations. It is also important to note that the term "deportation" can encompass various processes, including expedited removal and voluntary returns, which may be counted differently in different sources [1].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement asks how many deportations occurred under Bill Clinton, but does not provide any context or clarify what type of deportations are being referred to. This lack of specificity may lead to confusion and misinformation, as different sources may define and count deportations differently. For example, [1] and [1] include "returns" in their estimates, where immigrants chose to leave the U.S. at the border without further repercussions, while [2] and [3] provide more detailed breakdowns of removals and returns [1] [2] [3]. The sources that benefit from this framing are those that aim to emphasize the scale of deportations under Clinton's presidency, such as [1] and [1], which may be used to support arguments about the severity of immigration enforcement during his presidency. On the other hand, sources that provide more nuanced and detailed information, such as [2] and [3], may be used to support more balanced discussions of immigration policy and enforcement [2] [3].

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