Number of illegal immigrants deported under Biden
Executive summary
The answer depends on which metric is used: strict “deportations” (formal removals ordered and executed) are reported at roughly 1.1 million from the start of FY2021 through February 2024, while broader tallies that combine removals, expulsions, returns and other “repatriations” put the total in the multi‑millions — reports range from about 2.8 million to over 4.6 million for various spans of the Biden years [1] immigration-figures/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[2] [3]. Confusion stems from different agencies and analysts counting different categories (formal removals vs. returns/expulsions) and from shifting pandemic-era and post‑pandemic enforcement policies [1] [2].
1. How the numbers split: “removals” versus “returns/expulsions”
Federal reporting distinguishes formal removals — deportations executed under an order of removal — from administrative returns and expulsions, and that distinction drives the divergent totals in public reporting: Migration Policy calculates about 1.1 million deportations from FY2021 through February 2024, emphasizing formal removals and immediate returns at the border [1], while FactCheck and other compilers note that when initial expulsions and returns are included, the government’s own tallies show roughly 2.8 million people removed or expelled in early Biden years [2].
2. The high‑end tallies and why they balloon
Some outlets and compilations aggregate all forms of enforced departures — including Title 42 expulsions, CBP enforcement returns, ICE charter flights and diplomatic repatriations — and produce much larger figures: Newsweek cites a government‑data based total of over 4.6 million people removed from January 2021 through November 2024 [3], and other reporting framed “repatriations” during the Biden era at roughly 4.4 million when expulsions and blocking measures are added to formal removals [4]. These higher totals reflect counting every documented exit that government enforcement or policy produced, not only removals after immigration court processes [3] [4].
3. Recent single‑year snapshots: fiscal 2024 and beyond
For a more granular snapshot, ICE reported that more than 271,000 immigrants were deported in the most recent fiscal year referenced by BBC reporting — a figure that corresponds to ICE’s own year‑to‑year tallies and that highlights how annual totals can vary sharply with operational and diplomatic changes [5]. Migration Policy likewise notes the Biden administration conducted large numbers of administrative returns (more than 505,000 through February 2024), underscoring the mix of removal types in play [1].
4. Why analysts disagree: policy, counting rules and political framing
Disputes over “how many” are often grounded less in raw disagreement about source documents than in choices about which categories to include: immigration‑advocacy and policy trackers tend to separate formal deportations from expulsions and returns, while media outlets and some government summaries sometimes publish aggregated “removed or expelled” numbers that increase totals substantially [1] [2]. Critics like the Center for Immigration Studies point to declines in deportations of criminal aliens and challenge claims that Biden’s enforcement exceeded Trump’s for certain categories, illustrating how political agendas can shape which subset of the data is amplified [6].
5. Bottom line and the honest caveat
There is no single undisputed figure in the sources provided: if the question intends formal deportations/removals, migration analysts put the Biden‑era total at roughly 1.1 million from FY2021 through Feb. 2024 [1]; if the question seeks every enforced exit, including expulsions and returns, public reporting and government summaries yield totals ranging from about 2.8 million to more than 4.6 million for overlapping periods in the Biden years [2] [3]. The definitive, up‑to‑date number requires picking a precise definition and consulting the latest ICE and CBP breakdowns (ICE publishes enforcement and removal statistics that separate categories, but those dynamic tables must be queried directly for any exact cut‑off) [7].