How many deportations during 2021 to 2024
Executive summary
A straightforward, fully comparable count of “deportations” from 2021–2024 does not exist in a single number because federal agencies publish overlapping but differently defined measures; using government and independent analysts’ reconciliations, the total of deportations/removals and returns from the start of FY2021 through the end of FY2024 sits roughly between 1.1 million and 1.5 million, with FY2024 alone accounting for roughly 271,000–330,000 removals depending on whether one uses ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) tally or DHS/OHSS consolidated totals [1] [2] [3].
1. Why one single “deportation” number is misleading
Agencies report several related but distinct concepts—ICE reports ERO “removals,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection counts “returns” and “expulsions,” and DHS’s Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) publishes monthly tables that standardize but still produce totals that differ from component agencies’ spreadsheets—so different combinations produce materially different totals for 2021–2024 [4] [5] [3].
2. The conservative, agency-by-agency baseline: ICE’s ERO removals
ICE’s ERO statistics and press releases show a dramatic rebound from the pandemic trough: ICE reported roughly 271,000 removals in fiscal year 2024 alone, and its quarterly dashboards showed spikes such as nearly 68,000 removals in the third quarter of FY2024 [6] [2] [3]. Counting ICE’s ERO removals as the baseline yields a multi-year total in the low millions since FY2021, concentrated heavily in FY2024 as enforcement shifted back up.
3. The broader DHS/OHSS picture: higher totals when border returns and CBP events are included
OHSS compiles component data and sometimes reports higher aggregate removal counts because it includes removals recorded by CBP and other components that ICE’s ERO totals do not consolidate; analysts using OHSS data put DHS-wide removals for FY2024 nearer to 330,000 rather than ICE’s 271,000, illustrating how methodological choices change the headline number [5] [3].
4. Independent analysts’ reconciliations and the 1.1 million benchmark
Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and similar analysts, using DHS component data and clarifying definitions, reported about 1.1 million deportations (removals and returns) from the beginning of FY2021 through February 2024, a figure MPI used to argue that the Biden administration was on pace to match Trump-era totals—this 1.1 million covers a broad set of expulsions, returns and removals as compiled across agencies [1].
5. FY2024 was exceptional — and a primary source of confusion
Multiple sources show FY2024 as a peak year: Reuters reported roughly 271,000 deportations by ICE to 192 countries in FY2024 [2], while other DHS aggregates and independent writers point to ~330,000 when CBP removals/returns are folded in [3]. Migration Policy and MPI also note that ICE shifted enforcement from interior arrests to border removals, recording relatively few interior ICE removals across 2021–2024 (about 38,000) while border-related deportations rose sharply [7].
6. Reconciling the range and the honest answer
The most defensible, source-backed statement is that total removals/returns often reported as “deportations” between FY2021 and FY2024 fall in a band: roughly 1.1 million on the lower end (MPI’s FY2021–Feb 2024 synthesis) to as much as 1.5 million or more depending on whether all CBP expulsions and monthly OHSS tallies are included; FY2024 by itself produced approximately 271,000 ICE removals and about 330,000 DHS-wide removals depending on methodology [1] [2] [3] [7]. Exact tallies depend entirely on which agency series and which event categories the reader accepts as “deportations.”
7. What this means for interpreting claims and headlines
When politicians or outlets quote a single big number—whether 271,000, 330,000, 1.1 million, or a multi-million figure—readers must ask what’s being counted: ICE ERO removals, DHS-wide removals, CBP returns/expulsions, or cumulative encounters and voluntary returns; different choices can produce very different impressions about policy intensity and targets [2] [3] [1].