How does total immigration under Biden compare to Trump and Obama administrations
Executive summary
Total removals (deportations and voluntary returns) varied sharply across administrations: Biden-era removals from Jan 2021–Nov 2024 exceeded 4.6 million according to reporting of government data [1]. Trump’s first term oversaw about 2.1 million removals and Obama’s two terms totaled roughly 5.3 million removals in the sources provided [1]. Independent trackers and analysts note that daily arrest and removal rates shifted over short periods, making simple cumulative comparisons misleading without accounting for policies like Title 42, “returns” vs. formal removals, and different fiscal-year timing [2] [3].
1. Different counting methods drive big differences
Officials and analysts measure “immigration enforcement” in ways that change the headline totals: DHS reports include formal removals and voluntary “returns,” ICE reports track interior arrests and removals, and CBP tallies border encounters — and each can rise or fall independently [2] [3]. Migration Policy Institute flagged that under Biden most deportations became returns for the first time since early Obama years, altering the character of the counts [2]. TRAC and other auditors emphasize apples-to-apples comparisons require matching time windows and daily averages, not raw cumulative press-release numbers [3].
2. Cumulative removals: Obama, Trump (first run), Biden (through Nov 2024)
Multiple outlets using DHS/ICE figures report roughly 5.3 million removals across Obama’s two terms, about 2.1 million during Trump’s 2017–2020 term, and more than 4.6 million removals between January 2021 and November 2024 under Biden [1]. Those tallies are the working totals in the available reporting but carry important caveats about what each number includes [1] [2].
3. Short-term rates and what they imply about enforcement intensity
Analysts looking at daily averages find different impressions than raw totals. For example, TRAC’s analysis showed Trump-era daily removal rates during an early 2025 period were roughly 1% below Biden’s average daily removal rate for FY2024 when compared on an apples-to-apples basis; on arrests Trump’s early-period daily pace was only modestly above Biden’s average after short bursts of enforcement [3]. AP reported ICE saying its early-2025 arrest daily average was 710 versus a 311 daily average under Biden’s prior 12-month period through September — but those short-term spikes reflect operational pushes and staffing shifts [4].
4. Policy changes shaped flows as much as enforcement numbers
Policy tools — Title 42 expulsions (used during COVID), asylum restrictions, proclamations and travel bans — changed who was counted and how quickly people were removed or turned back. Migration Policy Institute highlighted Biden’s asylum restrictions and contingency funding proposals; Title 42 and similar measures influenced monthly spikes and troughs in the statistics [2]. PBS and Axios coverage also note the timing of policy shifts often explains abrupt drops in border encounters that administrations then cite as enforcement success [5] [6].
5. Competing narratives: administration claims vs. watchdogs
White House and DHS statements tout sharp reductions in “releases” or rapid deportations after a new policy or proclamation, while watchdogs and data analysts (TRAC, AP, PBS) push back, showing declines may be seasonal, tied to prior policy changes, or result from different baselines and time windows [7] [3] [5]. For instance, PBS confirmed illegal entries fell after Trump took office in 2025 but noted the decline began earlier and was influenced by Biden-era policy changes [5].
6. What reporters and analysts warn readers to watch for
Journalists and researchers advise focusing on consistent measures (e.g., fiscal-year removals, matched daily averages, and separately reported returns vs. formal removals) before drawing conclusions about which administration “did more.” TRAC and Migration Policy Institute urge careful windowing and separation of interior enforcement from border expulsions; those methodological choices materially change who appears to have “more” removals [3] [2].
Limitations and next steps: available sources do not mention comprehensive, side‑by‑side tables in this packet that reconcile all counting differences across administrations in a single chart. For a rigorous comparison, request DHS/ICE raw monthly datasets and ask a data analyst to produce fiscal-year–aligned daily averages separating returns, formal removals, ICE interior removals, and CBP border expulsions [3] [2].