How have border enforcement statistics (deportations, arrests, encounters) differed under Biden vs. Trump and Obama?
Executive summary
Border enforcement metrics vary by measure and period: encounters at the southwest border peaked in 2023 under Biden and fell after policy shifts, while DHS data and multiple analysts show Biden’s administration carried out large numbers of removals/returns (over 4.6 million removed Jan 2021–Nov 2024 reported by Newsweek) and later tightened asylum rules that reduced encounters [1] [2]. Early 2025 reporting shows sharp drops in daily encounters and aggressive removal actions under the Trump administration’s return to office, but independent outlets warn short‑term drops can be misleading without longer time series [3] [1].
1. “Peaks and policy: Biden’s term saw record encounters, then stepped‑up removals”
Under Biden, irregular arrivals rose sharply — with a record high of encounters in December 2023 — and the administration reacted by both tightening asylum access and increasing deportation/return activity; Newsweek and Migration Policy Institute reporting note that Biden expanded returns and used diplomatic pressure to repatriate migrants to many countries, with more returns across the border in FY2023 than interior removals for the first time since 2010 [4] [5] [1]. Migration Policy Institute also documents that the Biden years featured intense executive‑branch activity on immigration (605 actions) and initiatives like a proposed Southwest Border Contingency Fund to handle surges [6] [5].
2. “Counting removals: large numbers under Biden, mixed comparisons”
Multiple outlets cited DHS figures showing millions removed or returned during Biden’s presidency — Newsweek reported “over 4.6 million people were removed from the U.S. between January 2021 and November 2024” — and other analyses highlight that in FY2023 more migrants were returned directly across the border than removed from the interior [2] [5]. Migration Policy Institute frames this as a shift toward “returner” activity versus earlier eras, but the exact breakdown of interior versus border removals and daily averages can affect direct comparisons [5] [2].
3. “Trump’s early 2025 actions: sharp declines — but caveats from fact‑checkers”
The Trump White House and allied sources claim steep immediate declines in encounters and high removal counts after Trump returned to office; official statements and White House posts cite dramatic percentage drops in releases and high deportation totals in early 2025 [7] [8] [2]. Independent fact‑checking and news outlets (PBS, BBC) acknowledge illegal crossings dropped after Trump’s return but warn the administration’s use of short time windows and selective metrics can be misleading; PBS notes the drop began earlier, after Biden’s June 2024 asylum limits, and says long‑term effects require more time to evaluate [3] [1].
4. “Different metrics tell different stories: encounters, apprehensions, ‘gotaways’ and releases”
Journalists and analysts stress that “encounters” (CBP contacts), USBP apprehensions, interior ICE removals, returns across the border, and “gotaways” are separate measures and cannot simply be summed into a single migration total. The Christian Science Monitor cautions against adding encounters and gotaways as a proxy for net illegal immigration because repeat attempts and humanitarian parole programs distort totals; MPI and other trackers compile policy actions to explain why numbers move [9] [6].
5. “Partisan claims and institutional sources: check the timeframe and definitions”
White House and congressional communications (from both parties) use selective intervals to emphasize political points — e.g., the Trump White House highlighted a 99.9% drop in releases for a specific January–April period while House committee material touted FY2025 lows in southwest apprehensions [7] [10]. PBS and Reuters coverage flag that such short windows and changing legal authorities (Title 42, asylum proclamations, parole programs) drive much of the volatility, so comparisons must use consistent metrics and longer spans to avoid misleading conclusions [3] [1].
6. “Independent trackers show mixed comparative results”
Non‑government analysts give mixed assessments: TRAC reported that early Trump removals in FY2025 were below Biden’s FY2024 daily averages, suggesting Biden’s removal totals remain high in comparative perspective, while Cato and other policy shops focus on release/return likelihood differences between administrations [11] [12]. Migration Policy Institute emphasizes that the executive branch set much of immigration policy in recent administrations, which complicates headline comparisons between presidents [6].
7. “What’s missing or uncertain in current reporting”
Available sources do not present a single standardized time‑series that reconciles border encounters, interior removals, returns, releases and legal admissions across the exact same periods; therefore direct “Biden vs. Trump vs. Obama” apples‑to‑apples totals are not in the provided documents. Several sources explicitly warn that short windows and changing legal tools (e.g., Title 42’s end, asylum rules, parole programs) limit how definitive a short‑term comparison can be [3] [9] [5].
Bottom line: reporting agrees that Biden presided over a surge in encounters and also a large number of removals/returns; early 2025 under Trump showed sharp drops in encounters and aggressive removals, but independent fact‑checkers and analysts warn that short timeframes, differing definitions, and prior policy changes make simple head‑to‑head judgments unreliable without a standardized multi‑year dataset [1] [2] [3] [5].