How many undocumented immigrants were deported under each U.S. president since 1990?
Executive summary
Available public data and secondary analyses show that presidential terms since 1990 oversaw millions of formal removals (deportations) and expulsions, but totals vary by definition and source: from 1990–2018 Democrats accounted for about 3.9 million removals versus about 2.7 million for Republicans (Cato) [1]. More recent reporting finds roughly 1.5 million removals during Trump’s first four years and the Biden administration reached about 1.1 million removals through Feb. 2024, with Title 42 expulsions adding millions more under the pandemic-era period (Migration Policy Institute) [2].
1. What “deported” means and why counts differ
“Deportation” is not reported uniformly. DHS/ICE distinguish formal removals (orders of removal) from expulsions or quick “Title 42” returns at the border; some analyses combine removals and expulsions into a single tally, which inflates comparisons. The Migration Policy Institute separates the two and notes that Biden-era figures include about 1.1 million removals (FY2021–Feb 2024) plus roughly 3 million Title 42 expulsions—creating a combined “repatriation” figure approaching 4.4 million under policies deployed across administrations [2]. Cato’s historical analysis uses DHS removal data to compare 1990–2018 totals by party, yielding different totals because of methodology choices [1].
2. Presidency-by-presidency snapshots — what the sources report
Available sources do not provide a single authoritative, year-by-year deportation table for every president since 1990 within this result set. However, broad figures reported in these sources include: Democratic presidents from 1990–2018 removed roughly 3.9 million people and Republican presidents removed roughly 2.7 million in that same period (Cato) [1]. Migration Policy Institute reports 1.5 million removals during Trump’s first four years and about 1.1 million removals under Biden through February 2024, noting the Biden removals are on pace to match Trump’s four-year removals if trends continued [2].
3. The pandemic-era complication: Title 42 expulsions
Title 42 (a public‑health authority used to quickly turn back migrants at the border) produced roughly 3 million expulsions between March 2020 and May 2023—mostly during the Biden administration according to Migration Policy Institute—which means simple “deportation” comparisons that ignore expulsions under-count or mischaracterize enforcement levels [2]. ICE’s own statistics pages note that some datasets separate out Title 42 charter flights and expulsions, underscoring reporting complexity [3].
4. Why different sources reach different conclusions
Methodology drives divergent headlines. Analysts who count only formal removals (removals ordered after immigration proceedings) will report lower totals than those who combine removals with expulsions, returns, and “encounters” that never became formal removals. Cato’s partisan-time aggregation (1990–2018) focuses on DHS removal records and aggregates by party in power [1]. Migration Policy Institute explicitly combines removals and Title 42 expulsions to show total repatriations under recent administrations [2].
5. Recent political debate and contested claims
Contemporary political debate elevates divergent metrics for effect. Some outlets label Obama the “Deporter in Chief” based on high-removal years, while other reporting emphasizes that rates and categories have shifted across administrations [1] [4]. Reporting on late-2024/2025 policies and plans — including claims about mass deportations and the use of the National Guard under a later Trump administration — reflects evolving enforcement priorities and legal challenges; NPR and The Conversation describe plans and rhetoric about expanded expedited removals and guard deployments but note numbers remain in flux [5] [6].
6. What’s missing from the available reporting
Available sources do not provide a clean, single-number table in this dataset that lists “how many undocumented immigrants were deported under each U.S. president since 1990” year-by-year with a consistent definition. DHS/ICE have granular statistics (ICE posts enforcement data) but those specific per-president tallies or a uniform, comparable series across all administrations are not included among the current results [3]. Any firm per-president claim requires agreeing on definitions (removal vs. expulsion vs. return) and consulting primary DHS/ICE tables.
7. How to get a definitive breakdown
To produce the precise per-president numbers you asked for, consult DHS/ICE annual enforcement statistics and authoritative research centers (Migration Policy Institute, Pew, Cato) and decide whether to include Title 42 expulsions and other non‑removal outcomes. The current reporting here gives clear starting points: ICE statistics pages [3], Migration Policy Institute analysis for recent administrations [2], and Cato’s historical aggregation for 1990–2018 partisan comparisons [1].
Limitations: this article uses only the sources you supplied; those sources differ in definition and scope and do not contain a single, definitive per‑president deportation table for 1990–present (not found in current reporting).