How many illegals entered our country under Biden
Executive summary
Estimates vary because officials, analysts and media use different measures: Border Patrol “encounters” since January 2021 exceed 10 million, about 8 million at the southwest land border, but that raw count includes repeat attempts and people who were returned or expelled (BBC, FactCheck.org) [1] [2]. Independent analysts note millions were also removed/repatriated—Migration Policy cites roughly 4.4 million repatriations under Biden—and Pew and FactCheck warn that encounter totals are not the same as permanent additions to the U.S. population [3] [4] [2].
1. The headline number: encounters vs. people
When people ask “How many illegals entered,” sources commonly point to “encounters” recorded by U.S. agencies. The BBC reports “more than 10 million encounters” since January 2021, with about 8 million at the southwest land border; FactCheck.org explains that these encounter counts include repeat crossings and people processed and returned, so they do not equal the number of unique individuals who remained in the country [1] [2].
2. Why encounters overstate permanent arrivals
Government processing registers an encounter each time someone is apprehended or otherwise recorded; the same person can appear on the rolls multiple times. FactCheck.org shows DHS spreadsheets counting 6.5 million encounters between February 2021 and October of that year and stresses that many recorded migrants are removed or expelled, so encounters are a messy proxy for net additions [2].
3. Removals and repatriations matter to the total
Migration Policy’s review highlights that combining removals, expulsions and other returns produced nearly 4.4 million repatriations during the Biden era—more than any single presidential term since the early 2000s—which reduces the number of people who remained after initial encounters [3]. Newsweek likewise notes DHS reporting of departures and removals that reduced the immigrant population in mid‑2024 [5].
4. Population studies offer a different perspective
Population‑level estimates from research centers look at the unauthorized population living in the U.S., not encounters. Pew’s work showed a record unauthorized population (14 million in 2023) and that net immigration and policy shifts drove rapid increases through mid‑2024, after which inflows slowed; Pew warns that survey methodology changes complicate direct comparisons across years [4].
5. Political narratives and diverging counts
Conservative commentary has circulated far larger cumulative claims—“more than 10 million entrants” or even figures as high as 20 million or 30 million—often treating encounter tallies as permanent net additions; Newsweek and PBS fact checks call those treatments misleading because they conflate multiple metrics and ignore removals [6] [5] [7]. PBS notes encounters fell sharply in late 2024–early 2025 following new restrictions, complicating simple totals [7].
6. How journalists and analysts reconcile the numbers
Reliable reporting separates (a) raw encounters, (b) people released or paroled, (c) formal removals/expulsions, and (d) net change in population. FactCheck.org recommends focusing on DHS data and cautions against equating one category with another; Migration Policy and Pew add that policy shifts, parole programs and expulsions all materially affect whether an encounter leads to a person staying [2] [3] [4].
7. What current sources do not settle
Available sources do not provide a single, authoritative count of “how many unique unauthorized immigrants entered and remained because of Biden” as a simple number. They do not confirm claims that 20 million or similar megafigures are net additions under Biden; Newsweek labels the 20 million claim misleading and traces the confusion to conflating encounters with population change [5].
8. Bottom line for readers
If you mean “how many times did U.S. agencies record unauthorized entries since January 2021?” the best-cited totals exceed 10 million encounters, roughly 8 million at the southwest land border [1]. If you mean “how many new unauthorized residents permanently entered and stayed because of Biden policies,” the sources say that encounters substantially overstate that figure and that millions were also repatriated—Migration Policy documents about 4.4 million returns—and population studies (Pew) measure unauthorized residents rather than encounters [2] [3] [4].