What were the yearly deportation numbers under President Trump (2017-2020/2021)
Executive summary
Official counts and analyst tallies disagree, but multiple sources converge that roughly 1.2–1.5 million people were removed during Donald Trump’s first presidency (FY2017–FY2020) when removals, returns and some border expulsions are combined; ICE “removals” alone during that period are commonly reported near 1.2 million [1] [2]. Annual totals varied widely by category: ICE interior removals never exceeded about 100,000 per year in 2017–2019 [3], while broader figures that add CBP returns/expulsions push yearly totals much higher [4] [2].
1. What the headline numbers mean — removals vs. returns vs. expulsions
Deportation reporting mixes several different actions: “removals” (formal ICE removal orders), “returns” (often border encounters turned back without formal removal orders) and Title 42 expulsions/expedited removals (rapid expulsions at the border). Analyses that add removals and returns produce much larger totals than ICE removal-only counts; for example, some outlets cite about 1.5 million total removals/returns across Trump’s four years, while removal-orders-only figures are lower and are reported differently across sources [1] [2] [4].
2. Year-by-year picture — the range in reporting
Sources differ on precise annual breakdowns because they include different categories. Migration Policy Institute summarized that the four years under Trump amounted to about 1.5 million removals and returns in total [1]. The Independent reported roughly 1.2 million removals via removal orders during fiscal years 2017–2020, plus about 805,770 border “self-deportations” or turn‑backs in the same period [2]. Researchers who add Title 42 and expedited expulsions show spikes—e.g., a figure of 393,000 deportations/expulsions cited for 2020 when those categories are included [4].
3. Interior deportations specifically were modest compared with earlier eras
When you isolate interior removals—those carried out by ICE inside the U.S.—the Trump years did not return to the higher levels seen in the late Bush/early Obama era. Econofact notes that interior removals rose in 2017–2019 relative to the end of the Obama term but “never exceeded 100,000” annually in the available 2017–2019 data [3]. That means much of the larger four‑year totals come from border enforcement and expedited processes, not just interior ICE removals [3] [4].
4. 2020 is a special case — Title 42 and pandemic effects
2020 migration statistics are distorted by pandemic-era policies. Analyses that include Title 42 expulsions and expedited removals count hundreds of thousands of additional expulsions in 2020; one study cites 393,000 deportations/expulsions in 2020 when those policies are added [4]. Other reporting underscores that counting methods during the pandemic changed the scale and composition of removals [4] [2].
5. Why sources disagree — counting choices and political narratives
Discrepancies arise because different institutions choose different denominators. Government press statements, ICE counts, academic analyses and media outlets alternately emphasize removals, returns, expulsions or combined totals. The Migration Policy Institute and The Independent present multi-year totals in roughly the same ballpark (about 1.1–1.5 million for Trump’s four years) but differ on whether they include border returns and expedited expulsions [1] [2]. Reporting is also shaped by political messaging: advocates and administrations emphasize the metric that supports their argument [5].
6. How this compares to other presidencies — context, not verdict
Several sources place Trump’s four-year totals in context: they are higher than recent years immediately preceding his term in some measures but lower than peak years earlier in the century depending on the metric used. Econofact emphasizes that interior removals during Trump were below levels seen in the late Bush/early Obama era [3]. Migration Policy Institute compared four‑year totals and found Trump’s 2017–2020 removals roughly comparable to totals under Biden through early 2024 when measured on similar terms—showing the importance of apples‑to‑apples comparisons [1].
7. Limits of available reporting and what’s not said
Available sources show consistent disagreement on which actions are being counted; they do not provide a single, uncontested year‑by‑year table in these excerpts. Detailed, audited annual breakdowns separating ICE interior removals, CBP returns and Title 42 expulsions for every fiscal year 2017–2020 are not presented in the provided reporting excerpts — available sources do not mention a reconciled, single-year spreadsheet in these snippets [3] [1] [4] [2].
Bottom line: depending on whether you count only ICE removals or add border returns and expedited expulsions, Trump-era four‑year totals range from roughly 1.2 million removals (removal orders alone in some reporting) up to about 1.5 million or more when returns/expulsions are combined. Interior ICE removals alone were under about 100,000 per year in 2017–2019, so much of the larger total reflects border and expedited actions rather than interior deportation drives [2] [1] [3] [4].