How many illegal immigrants were let into the country during the 4 years of Joe Biden's presidency.
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Official U.S. government and independent analyses show millions of “encounters” at the U.S.–Mexico border during Joe Biden’s presidency, but that raw encounter counts are not the same as people “let into the country.” From January 2021 through late 2024 authorities recorded between roughly 6.3 million and 10+ million encounters, and independent summaries say “more than 2.4 million migrants allowed into the country” in three years [1] [2] [3].
1. What the headline numbers actually measure
Border “encounters” are logged every time authorities detect, apprehend or otherwise make contact with someone attempting to cross without authorization; encounters include repeat crossings by the same person, “gotaways” who were not apprehended, and people processed at ports of entry who were denied or expelled — they are not a tally of permanent admissions [4] [5]. Multiple sources stress that treating encounters as equivalent to “illegal immigrants let into the country” conflates distinct administrative categories [4] [5].
2. Range of the reported totals and why they differ
Different outlets and reports cite different aggregates: Migration Policy Institute counts at least 6.3 million migrant encounters since Biden took office and reports “more than 2.4 million migrants allowed into the country” in three years [1]. The BBC reports “more than 10 million encounters” since January 2021 with about 8 million at the southwest land border [2]. Other summaries use figures like 8.6 million encounters through October 2024 [3]. These divergent totals reflect varying date ranges, whether they include all border sectors or just the southwest land border, and whether they count repeated encounters [1] [2] [3].
3. The “allowed into the country” figure and what it means
Migration Policy and related analyses reference “more than 2.4 million migrants allowed into the country” over roughly three years; that phrasing covers people who, after initial processing, were released into the U.S. pending court proceedings, paroled through special programs, or otherwise not immediately expelled [1]. FactCheck.org and Newsweek caution that many recorded encounters do not translate to long-term stayers: People can be removed, expelled, or attempt repeated crossings that generate multiple encounter records [4] [5].
4. Removals, expulsions and recidivism complicate the picture
Government lifecycle and enforcement reports show substantial removals and expulsions alongside releases. FactCheck.org summarizes DHS figures saying initial processing included roughly 2.5 million people released and about 2.8 million removed or expelled in an initial timeframe — underlining that encounter tallies include both departures and releases [4]. DHS and ICE also reported large numbers of administrative returns and deportations during the period, with ICE deporting more than 271,000 people in a recent fiscal year [6] [7].
5. Policy changes and counting artifacts that affect totals
Title 42 expulsions, parole programs, and asylum-processing rules changed repeatedly during Biden’s term; those policy shifts changed how many people were expelled immediately, how many were paroled with sponsors, and how many were processed into the immigration system — all of which affect headline counts [4] [8]. Migration Policy notes parole and humanitarian pathways introduced by the administration and links them to higher numbers of people “allowed into the country” in certain years [3].
6. Political uses and misuses of the data
Multiple sources note that encounter counts have been weaponized in political argument: some actors present cumulative encounter tallies as if they were permanent new residents, while others emphasize removals and enforcement actions to rebut that framing [9] [5]. Newsweek and FactCheck say claims that tens of millions “entered illegally” are misleading because they conflate encounters with net additions to the population [5] [4].
7. What cannot be concluded from available reporting
Available sources do not provide a single authoritative number for “illegal immigrants let into the country during the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency” that counts only unique people who remained permanently. Sources report overlapping metrics — encounters, releases, paroles, removals, deportations — and do not collectively reduce those to one definitive net-addition figure [4] [1] [2] [5].
8. Bottom line for readers and policymakers
If your question seeks a simple tally of people who illegally crossed and then remained permanently, current reporting does not offer that single figure; instead there are multiple, valid measures: total encounters (6–10+ million depending on dates and definitions), people released or paroled into the U.S. (migration-policy reporting cites “more than 2.4 million”), and removals/deportations numbering in the hundreds of thousands to millions depending on category and timeframe [1] [2] [4] [7]. Any claim that states a single definitive number without specifying which metric it uses is incomplete or misleading given the available sources [5].