How do deportation rates of noncitizens with no criminal record vary by administration (Trump, Biden)?
Executive summary
Available government and reporting data show competing accounts about deportations of noncitizens without criminal records under the Trump and Biden administrations: analyses from TRAC and Reuters find overall removals under Trump roughly similar to or slightly below Biden’s FY‑2024 pace (TRAC: daily removals ~1% below or down 6.5% in short comparisons) while internal ICE data and New York Times reporting show a sharp shift in the composition of arrests under Trump toward a higher share of non‑criminals (NYT: share with convictions fell from 63% under Biden to far lower under Trump; ICE categories define “no convictions or pending charges”) [1] [2] [3] [4]. Independent and partisan sources disagree on how big and sustained those changes are and whether Trump’s rhetoric has translated into higher aggregate removals [5] [2].
1. Arrests vs. removals: two different yardsticks tell different stories
Most debates confuse ICE “arrests” or “detentions” with “removals” (deportations). TRAC’s empirical work finds little evidence that removals overall rose above Biden’s FY‑2024 totals and in some short comparisons shows removals declined by about 6.5% under early Trump months versus Biden’s FY‑2024 baseline [1]. By contrast, Reuters and other reporting describe the Trump administration casting a wider enforcement net — more interior arrests of people without criminal convictions and new policies to detain and deport more with final orders — even as the aggregate deportation counts remain contested [6] [5].
2. Composition shifted: fewer arrestees with criminal convictions under Trump, per NYT and ICE categories
The New York Times analysis of government arrest records reports that under Biden 63% of those arrested by ICE had convictions and 24% had pending charges, while during the Trump‑led crackdowns the share with violent convictions fell markedly and the share of non‑convicted arrestees rose [3]. ICE’s own statistics explicitly include a category for those with “no convictions or pending charges” and clarify that that group can include visa overstays, re‑entrants, or people with final removal orders — not only people with literally no legal history [4]. That nuance matters to interpretation but the reported trend is: arrests increasingly captured non‑criminal immigration violators [3] [4].
3. Conflicting tallies and political claims — who to trust?
Trump officials and DHS have touted rapid arrests and claimed large early removals (DHS cited 5,693 removals in two weeks after Inauguration Day), while TRAC and other researchers challenge those claims as selective or misleading when compared to Biden’s FY‑2024 totals [7] [2] [1]. Reuters notes administration aims and rhetoric (including an ICE target cited in a budget doc of 1 million deportations per year) but also reports that short‑term deportation totals under Trump may have trailed comparable periods under Biden [5] [6]. The disagreement reflects different time windows, choice of metrics (interior vs. border removals, arrests vs. final removals), and reliance on agency press statements versus independent counts [2] [1].
4. Methodology matters: interior removals vs. expulsions, and data timing
Migration Policy and TRAC emphasize that diversion of ICE resources to the border, Title 42 expulsions, and fiscal‑year framing complicate apples‑to‑apples comparisons: FY‑2025 began in October 2024 when Biden was still president, so year‑to‑date figures can mix administrations [8] [9]. TRAC’s semi‑monthly tracking and caution about DHS press releases show how short windows or agency framing can exaggerate apparent changes [1] [9]. ICE’s public categories and dashboards also show that “no convictions” can include people with final orders or repeated re‑entrants — not purely first‑time, low‑risk migrants [4].
5. What the numbers do and do not say about “mass deportations” of non‑criminals
Reporting shows a real increase in the share of interior arrests involving people without recorded criminal convictions under Trump enforcement actions, but independent trackers find total removals have not clearly exceeded Biden’s recent record once you adjust for timeframes and definitions [3] [1] [2]. Reuters and TRAC both note that Trump administration policies broadened who ICE might apprehend — which raises the proportion of non‑convicted arrestees — even if the overall removal totals are contested [6] [5] [2].
6. Caveats, open questions and what reporting doesn’t yet show
Available sources do not provide a single, agreed numeric comparison of total deportations exclusively of noncitizens with no criminal record across full Trump vs Biden terms; instead, analyses use different windows, datasets, and definitions [1] [2]. The Deportation Data Project and lawsuits yielded arrest‑level records used by NYT but broader aggregated DHS communications and TRAC’s semi‑monthly counts reach different conclusions on totals and daily averages [3] [1]. Policymakers’ stated goals (e.g., ICE’s aspirational targets) are documented, but whether those translate into sustained higher aggregate removals of non‑criminals remains disputed in the sources [5] [2].
Bottom line: reporting and independent trackers agree the enforcement focus shifted under the Trump administration to include more non‑convicted immigration violators [3] [4], but independent empirical work (TRAC) finds no clear evidence that total removals rose above Biden’s recent baseline once you account for definitions and timeframes [1]. Readers should treat agency press releases and short‑window claims skeptically and seek datasets that separate interior removals versus border expulsions and clearly define “no criminal record” before drawing firm conclusions [2] [4].