How do deportation totals under Trump compare to Obama and Biden administrations?

1. Big picture totals: Obama’s large multi‑year total versus recent administrations

Official and long‑form analyses characterize Obama as the “deporter‑in‑chief,” recording the largest cumulative removals in the modern period — with reporting putting Obama’s removals in the multiple millions across his eight years and noting “over 3 million” to “5.3 million” repatriations depending on counting method ^[1]. That framing contrasts with reporting that Biden’s presidency produced very large repatriation totals through 2021–2024 — cited figures of roughly 4.6 million to 4.7 million removals or repatriations during Biden’s time in office to November 2024 are reported by outlets summarizing government data ^{[2] [1]}. These different totals underscore that “who deported more” depends on the exact metric and timeframe chosen ^[1].

2. Definitions matter: removals, returns, voluntary repatriations and “deportations”

A recurring caveat in the coverage is that different administrations relied on different mixes of formal “removals,” border “returns” and voluntary or administrative repatriations; many high counts reflect returns at the border rather than interior removals ^[6]. Migration Policy notes that the Biden administration’s high totals included an “overwhelming number” of voluntary returns at the border, not primarily interior deportations ^[6]. News outlets and analysts caution that comparing raw totals without distinguishing these categories can be misleading ^{[2] [6]}.

3. Trump 2025: rapid surge, projections, and contested claims

Multiple news reports from early/mid‑2025 describe a rapid increase in removals under Trump’s second term, with some officials and outlets asserting the administration was “on pace” for exceptionally high annual totals (e.g., targets of hundreds of thousands or even 600,000+ deportations) and citing DHS statements of large early‑term numbers ^{[3] [7] [2]}. At the same time, expert analyses and TRAC flagged that some White House claims overstated an apples‑to‑apples comparison: TRAC concluded Trump’s average daily removal rate in early 2025 was roughly one percent below Biden’s average daily rate — and noted DHS’s early claims were “preposterous” when compared to FY‑2024 totals ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Short windows vs. fiscal‑year and multi‑year comparisons

Several sources emphasize that short‑term counts (first 100 days, first few months) can produce striking headlines but don’t settle who “deported more” over whole terms. TRAC’s critiques compare like‑for‑like fiscal‑year daily rates, finding Trump’s early daily removal rate close to Biden’s FY‑2024 rate while cautioning about claims that Trump “already surpassed” all of FY‑2024 after only 100 days ^{[4] [5]}. Conversely, outlets citing multi‑year totals point to Obama’s cumulative leadership over eight years ^[1].

5. Independent analyses and later reconciliations

Independent data projects and fact‑checking outlets that aggregate fiscal‑year data (and separate removals from returns) produce sometimes divergent rankings; for example, later 2025–2026 analyses and Spanish‑language fact checks show Obama’s multi‑million totals remain largest over decades, while Trump’s pace in 2025 could outstrip single‑year records if sustained — but those are projections and depend on incomplete DHS public reporting ^{[8] [9] [3]}. Migration Policy also cautioned that administrative definitions and use of returns drive much of the apparent surge ^[6].

6. What reporting does not settle

Available sources do not present a single, undisputed apples‑to‑apples ranking across the three presidencies that separates border returns from formal interior removals consistently across all years; many high‑level totals mix categories and use different time spans, and some DHS claims early in 2025 are challenged by TRAC and data analysts ^{[4] [6]}. Where sources dispute administration claims, TRAC and Migration Policy provide methodological pushback; Newsweek, Fox and other outlets relay administration statements and projections without a uniform methodological reconciliation ^{[3] [7] [2]}.

Bottom line: Obama’s eight‑year cumulative removals are repeatedly cited as the largest in recent decades, Biden produced very large repatriation totals through 2024 with many returns at the border, and Trump’s second‑term surge in 2025 produced rapid increases and ambitious targets — but apples‑to‑apples comparisons require separating removals from returns and comparing consistent fiscal‑year daily rates, a point emphasized by TRAC and Migration Policy ^{[1] [6] [4]}.