How much has the government spent on deportation programs per deportee in 2025
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Estimates of government spending per deportee in 2025 vary widely: the Department of Homeland Security gives an average “arrest, detain and remove” cost of $17,121 per deportee (cited by DHS and multiple outlets) [1] [2]. Independent analysts and advocacy groups put per-deportee figures much higher — studies used by Penn Wharton imply per-deportation costs from roughly $30,591 to $109,880, averaging about $70,236, and large-scale scenarios estimate about $88 billion to deport one million people (about $88,000 per deportee) [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. The government’s headline figure: $17,121 per deportee
DHS and its spokespeople have stated that “the average cost to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal alien is $17,121,” a figure repeated in the DHS announcement about travel assistance and in reporting by Bloomberg and other outlets [1] [2]. Journalists note DHS uses that average to promote lower-cost “self-deportation” options that it says could reduce costs by roughly 70% relative to ICE removals [1] [2].
2. Academic and watchdog studies say the real cost can be far higher
Nonpartisan researchers and policy shops calculate much bigger per-person costs once detention length, legal processing, transfers, charter flights and other overhead are included. The Penn Wharton analysis and the studies it cites show per-deportation estimates ranging from about $30,591 to $109,880, producing an average around $70,236 — roughly four times the DHS headline figure [3] [4]. The Penn Wharton work also calculates that a permanent mass-deportation policy could add about $900 billion over a decade on top of existing appropriations [7].
3. Big-picture scenarios: $88 billion per 1 million deportations
Several policy briefs model the fiscal impact of deporting large numbers and arrive at roughly $88 billion for deporting 1 million people in a year — a per-person cost of about $88,000. That $88 billion figure is used by the Baker Institute, the American Immigration Council report, and others to illustrate the fiscal scale of a million-person deportation regime [5] [6]. These scenario estimates bundle detention, enforcement expansion, flights, border operations and downstream fiscal effects into a single annual price tag [5] [6].
4. Why numbers diverge: scope, methodology and hidden costs
Differences come down to what each calculation includes. DHS’s $17,121 is an operational average for an ICE arrest/detention/removal episode and is often cited without the broader administrative, legal, state/local, and macroeconomic effects that academic models include [1] [2]. Higher estimates factor in longer detention durations, multiple moves, charter and military flights, legal case costs, advertising and contractor fees, international payments or agreements, and economic knock-on effects projected in large-scale scenarios [2] [8] [7] [5].
5. Concrete examples show per-case costs can spike
Reporting that reconstructed specific cases shows individual removals can far exceed averages: Bloomberg documented a case where detention and multiple transfers pushed costs much higher than DHS’s average [2]. Reuters examined a U.S. military deportation flight that likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant just for airlift — and other official figures suggest flight-hour charter costs that can raise per-person transport costs substantially [8]. Those operational outliers feed the higher per-deportee ranges in academic studies [2] [8].
6. Political narratives and vested interests shape which number gets used
Advocacy groups and think tanks deploy different figures to support policy positions: proponents of mass enforcement highlight lower per-deportee administrative figures or frame deportation costs relative to broader migration costs [9], while opponents point to Penn Wharton, Cato, Baker Institute and American Immigration Council calculations that show six- or seven-figure program costs in aggregate and tens of thousands per person [7] [10] [5] [6]. Each source selects methodology that reinforces its argument.
7. What’s missing and the honest limitation
Available sources do not provide a single, government-wide, audited per-deportee cost that reconciles operational ICE averages with the broader fiscal-model estimates; the numbers depend on inclusion choices and time horizons (not found in current reporting). Analysts projecting mass-deportation costs warn that flight capacity, detention bed limits and legal processing create practical bottlenecks that also raise costs per person [5].
Bottom line: if you use DHS’s operational average, the government’s stated cost is about $17,121 per deportee [1] [2]. Independent studies and large-scale fiscal models place the realistic or program-level cost much higher — typically tens of thousands per person and roughly $88,000 per person in million‑deportation scenarios [3] [4] [5] [6]. Which figure is “true” depends entirely on whether you count only the on-the-books ICE removal episode or the full slate of detention, legal, transport, contractor and macroeconomic costs included by outside analysts.