Fact check: How many illegal immigrants did trump deported during his 1st term

1. Summary of the results

Based on the available analyses, Trump's first presidential term (2017-2021) averaged approximately 299,000 deportations per year, with the highest single year being 347,250 deportations in fiscal year 2019 ^[1]. However, none of the sources provide a definitive total number for all four years of Trump's first term.

The analyses reveal that Trump's current second term has deported over 139,000 migrants as of June 2025, but this pace is behind his aggressive targets ^{[2] [3]}. For comparison, the Biden administration conducted 1.1 million deportations from the beginning of fiscal year 2021 through February 2024 and was on track to carry out as many removals as the Trump administration did during its entire four-year first term ^[4].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several crucial pieces of context that emerge from the analyses:

• Definitional complexity: The analyses suggest there's a distinction between "removals," "returns," and "deportations" that affects how numbers are calculated and compared ^[4].
• Comparative performance: Biden's administration recorded 685,000 deportations in fiscal year 2024 alone, which exceeds Trump's highest single-year total ^[5]. This challenges narratives that Trump was uniquely aggressive on deportations.
• Current vs. historical performance: Trump's current second-term deportation pace is actually slower than his first-term average, despite more aggressive rhetoric and expanded powers ^{[2] [3]}.
• Operational challenges: The analyses reveal that even with expanded detention centers and federal coercion of local governments, Trump's current administration is struggling to meet its deportation targets ^[3].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains an implicit assumption that may reflect bias:

• Loaded terminology: The use of "illegal immigrants" rather than more neutral terms like "undocumented migrants" or "removals" suggests a particular political framing.
• Missing comparative context: The question focuses solely on Trump's numbers without acknowledging that subsequent administrations have actually achieved higher deportation rates ^{[5] [4]}.
• Oversimplification: The question treats deportation as a simple metric when the analyses reveal significant controversy about targeting, due process, and effectiveness ^[6]. Critics argue the administration is "targeting the wrong people" and making mistakes in the process ^{[2] [6]}.

The framing benefits those who wish to portray Trump as uniquely effective on immigration enforcement, while omitting data showing that Biden's administration has actually outpaced Trump's deportation numbers in several metrics.