How many immigrants during Biden administration
Executive summary
The question “How many immigrants during [the] Biden administration” has no single empirical answer because different metrics—encounters, releases, removals, repatriations, net population change, and estimates of the unauthorized population—tell different stories; authoritative sources put those numbers in very different ranges. Government encounter and enforcement data show millions of interactions at the border and millions of removals/returns, while demographic surveys show the foreign‑born and unauthorized populations rising by several million; claims that “20 million” or more entered during Biden’s term are judged to be exaggerations by fact‑checkers [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. What “how many” can mean: encounters, releases, removals, or net population change
Border and enforcement data are typically reported as “encounters” (each contact with CBP), and those exceed simple counts of unique people because they include repeat attempts; Migration Policy noted a recorded 8.6 million migrant encounters at the U.S.–Mexico border during Biden’s term that reflect many repeat crossings and Title 42 effects [6], while FactCheck summarized that roughly 2.5 million people were released into the U.S. and about 2.8 million were removed or expelled in initial processing in the examined period [1]. Those operational metrics are different from demographic changes measured by the Census or Pew, which count residents rather than border events [1] [3] [4].
2. Enforcement totals and repatriations: millions returned, but so were many released
Aggregating deportations, expulsions and returns yields large sums: Migration Policy estimated the Biden administration oversaw nearly 4.4 million repatriations in its term to date, more than any single presidential term since the Bush era [2]. FactCheck’s reading of DHS data found about 2.8 million removals/expulsions alongside about 2.5 million releases to the U.S. to await processing—illustrating simultaneous high enforcement activity and large numbers admitted on notices to appear [1]. NPR reported ICE removals reaching a near 10‑year high in 2024, underscoring that removals accelerated in the later years of the administration [7].
3. Population counts: foreign‑born and unauthorized totals grew by millions
Survey and demographic estimates point to notable growth in residents born abroad: the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey showed the foreign‑born population at about 49.5 million in October 2023, a rise of roughly 4.5 million since Biden took office [4]. Pew estimated the unauthorized immigrant population reached a record 14 million in 2023, marking an increase from earlier estimates and reflecting policy changes and parole programs that affected arrivals and status [3]. Scholarly analyses using different statistical methods suggest a net increase in the unauthorized population of several million during the administration, though the exact figure depends on assumptions [8].
4. What proponents and critics say — and why the big “20 million” claim fails scrutiny
Some political actors and conservative analysts have asserted much larger totals—6.7 million new illegal migrants (House testimony) or even claims of 20–30 million arrivals—figures that proponents use to argue for crisis narratives and policy urgency [9] [8]. Independent fact‑checkers and demographers have repeatedly flagged those larger claims as exaggerations or built on inconsistent metrics; Newsweek and FactCheck both note that while inflows and the unauthorized population rose markedly, the headline “20 million entered illegally under Biden” overstates what the available data support [5] [1]. PolitiFact and others also warn that “encounter” counts are not directly comparable across administrations because of Title 42 and appointment‑based port entries that still counted as encounters under Biden [10].
5. Bottom line and the honest uncertainty that remains
Answering “how many immigrants” depends on which number is requested: operationally, border-related encounters totaled millions (recorded at 8.6 million in one Migration Policy tally) and DHS data show millions released and millions removed in initial processing [6] [1]; enforcement combined repatriations approach the multi‑million mark [2]. Demographically, the foreign‑born population rose by about 4.5 million through October 2023 and the unauthorized population was estimated at about 14 million in 2023 [4] [3]. Claims of 20–30 million newly admitted undocumented immigrants during Biden’s term are not supported by the available DHS, Census, or independent research and have been characterized as exaggerations by fact‑checkers and analysts [5] [1] [8]. Where reporting is limited or definitions differ, further clarity requires consistent metrics from DHS and updated demographic studies.