How many people were deported from the U.S. for immigration violations in fiscal year 2024 and 2025?
Executive summary
DHS and ICE statistics show large, but differently counted, numbers for people removed from the United States: ICE and DHS dashboards report roughly 330,000 “removals” (often called deportations) in fiscal year 2024, while several independent trackers and agency statements put FY2025 removals anywhere from roughly 158,000 through the spring of 2025 to government claims of 400,000+ later in FY2025—figures that reflect differing definitions and partial reporting windows [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. What the official numbers mean: “removals,” “returns,” and “repatriations”
DHS and ICE use multiple categories: “removals” are formal deportations typically managed by ICE; “returns” and “repatriations” often record expedited departures at the border or voluntary/self-deportation programs. Public dashboards released through November/December 2024 show roughly 330,000 removals in FY2024 and many hundreds of thousands of returns/repatriations counted separately, so a single headline total depends on which categories are combined [1] [6] [5].
2. The FY2024 baseline: about 330,000 ICE removals
Multiple reporting outlets and DHS data referenced by news coverage put ICE/DHS removals for fiscal year 2024 at approximately 330,000 — a figure used by analysts and cited in contemporaneous reporting as the ICE “removals” total for FY2024 [1] [7]. That number excludes large counts of “returns” or other repatriations that are tracked separately [1].
3. FY2025: partial counts, different windows, contested totals
For FY2025 the picture fragments. ICE semi‑monthly figures through early May 2025 show 157,948 removals on a fiscal‑year cumulative basis from Oct. 1, 2024 to May 3, 2025 in TRAC’s analysis of ICE reporting—this mixes late‑Biden and early‑Trump periods and covers only part of the fiscal year [2]. By contrast, DHS later issued a press statement claiming “more than 400,000 deportations” as part of a broader 2‑million figure of people who “left or self‑deported,” a figure that combines formal deportations with voluntary departures and agency programs [3]. Independent institutes (MPI) estimated about 340,000 ICE deportations in FY2025 from the publicly available fragmentary data, again noting gaps in DHS releases [4].
4. Why the numbers diverge: definitions, timing, and selective disclosure
Disagreement stems from at least three factors in the sources: definitions—“removals” versus “returns/repatriations” versus voluntary/self‑deportation are not interchangeable [1] [6]; timing—some data series report through November or December 2024 only, others publish semi‑monthly cumulative tallies that mix administrations [8] [2]; selective or infrequent DHS publication has left analysts to estimate FY2025 totals from partial releases and agency statements, producing divergent estimates [4] [2].
5. Independent analyses and claims by the administration
Independent trackers and research groups produced different totals: TRAC reported 157,948 removals through May 3, 2025 using ICE semi‑monthly reports [2]. The Migration Policy Institute later estimated around 340,000 ICE deportations for FY2025 using the latest public fragments [4]. DHS itself framed a political milestone—2 million “removed or self‑deported”—and said “more than 400,000 deportations” were part of that tally; that statement mixed categories and included voluntary departures [3].
6. What to report if you need a single number
If you need a defensible single figure for FY2024, cite roughly 330,000 ICE removals and note that tens or hundreds of thousands of returns/repatriations are counted separately [1] [6]. For FY2025, available public reporting does not offer a fully consistent, end‑of‑year ICE/DHS dataset; choices are: use ICE’s semi‑annual/partial cumulative counts (e.g., 157,948 through May 3, 2025) and clarify the cutoff [2], or use DHS/administration totals but explicitly state they combine removals with voluntary departures and returns [3].
7. Caveats, agendas and what’s missing from reporting
Sources reflect competing agendas: DHS/administration statements emphasize programmatic success and large aggregate departures [3], while analyst groups warn about incomplete public data and mix‑and‑match accounting that inflates comparability with prior years [2] [4]. Available sources do not mention a single, final, publicly released ICE/DHS tabulation that reconciles FY2025 removals, returns and voluntary departures across the entire fiscal year; instead public figures are fragmented and sometimes politically framed [2] [3] [4].
8. Bottom line for readers
Use the 330,000 figure for FY2024 when referring specifically to ICE “removals” and treat FY2025 totals as contested: partial ICE tallies give ~158,000 through early May 2025, MPI estimated ~340,000 for the full year from fragmentary public data, and DHS statements claim “more than 400,000 deportations” as part of a broader removals/self‑deportation narrative—each number is defensible only with careful explanation of definitions and cutoffs [1] [2] [4] [3].