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How many people were removed (deported) by ICE between Jan 20 2025 and [current date] according to DHS?

Checked on November 9, 2025
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Executive Summary

Between January 20, 2025, and November 9, 2025, available public records from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and related reporting do not present a single, unambiguous DHS figure for the number of people “removed (deported) by ICE” covering that precise interval; various public analyses and press pieces cite different aggregates—some claiming over 400,000 removals and others over 527,000 removals—but those claims rest on disparate datasets, timeframes, and definitions of “removal” versus voluntary departures, and DHS/ICE stopped publishing consistent comprehensive monthly removals data in early 2025 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].

1. Why a single DHS number is hard to pin down right now

DHS and ICE historical reporting practices divide outcomes into multiple categories—formal removals, returns, voluntary departures, and expulsions under Title 42 or other public-health or emergency authorities—and those categories are reported on different schedules and through different products. The sources provided show that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations has standard statistics pages, and the Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) issues monthly tables, but those datasets either stopped being published consistently in early 2025 or are not synchronized with media claims, producing gaps and timing mismatches that prevent producing a single DHS-certified total for Jan 20–Nov 9 from the materials at hand [1] [6] [7].

2. Conflicting public claims: 400k vs 527k and the 2-million narrative

Some public statements and reporting present a headline figure of “over 2 million people removed or self-deported in less than 250 days,” with a component that “over 400,000” were deportations by ICE—language that aggregates formal removals with voluntary self-deportations and other departures—and other fact checks and compilations cite over 527,000 removals by DHS in 2025 alone. Those divergent numbers come from different interpretive frames: one narrative emphasizes the sum of removals plus voluntary departures and expulsions to portray a sweeping, rapid-scale border enforcement effort, while alternate tallies focus strictly on formal ICE removals reported in particular DHS or third‑party datasets [2] [3] [4].

3. What DHS/ICE publicly released and what reporters found

Reporting compiled through mid‑2025 shows that ICE’s public removals reporting became less consistent after January 2025, which led outlets and researchers to rely on a mix of older ICE data, OHSS tables, state reporting, and independent compilations like the Deportation Data Project. Those secondary efforts documented sharp increases in arrests and detentions in certain jurisdictions—examples include reported spikes in Illinois arrests and detentions—but they also warn that ICE stopped publishing consistent, comprehensive datasets in January 2025, complicating direct DHS attribution for the Jan 20–Nov 9 interval [5] [6] [7].

4. Definitions matter: removals versus voluntary departures and expulsions

DHS statistics differentiate formal “removals” (deportations following an order) from “returns” and “voluntary departures,” and other enforcement actions such as Title 42 expulsions or administrative removals. Many public tallies that reach multi‑hundred‑thousand or multi‑million totals aggregate these categories without always disclosing the breakdown, which inflates headline counts relative to strictly defined ICE removals. The materials reviewed show claims that 70% of ICE arrests involved people with criminal charges or convictions in 2025, but they also note that calendar‑year removal breakdowns by conviction status are not consistently available, underscoring the limits of drawing firm conclusions from headline totals alone [4] [1].

5. Bottom line: what can be stated with confidence and what remains unresolved

Based on the supplied sources, the confident conclusions are: DHS/ICE reporting practices changed in early 2025 and public DHS composites covering Jan 20–Nov 9 are either not available or inconsistent; multiple reputable analyses and reports cite substantially different totals—notably figures around 400,000 and around 527,000 for removals depending on definitions—and some broader claims combine removals with voluntary departures to reach over 2 million people removed or self‑deported. The unresolved point is a single DHS‑published, reconciled number for ICE deportations specifically for Jan 20–Nov 9, 2025; resolving that requires DHS/ICE to republish or provide a reconciled dataset that separates formal removals from other outcome categories [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].

Want to dive deeper?
What was the total number of ICE deportations in 2024 for comparison?
How does the 2025 deportation rate under current administration compare to previous years?
What factors influence ICE removal numbers according to DHS reports?
Are there breakdowns by country of origin for 2025 ICE deportations?
What policies changed on January 20 2025 affecting ICE enforcement?