How many have been deported by the Trump administration compared to the Obama administration?

1. How reporters and researchers define “deportation” — the key source of disagreement

Journalists and analysts warn the single word “deportation” masks at least three distinct tallies: formal removals (enforced removal orders), administrative/expedited returns at the border, and voluntary or “self-deports” or turnbacks; many long‑term comparisons mix these categories, so apples‑to‑apples counts are rare ^{[5] [6]}. For example, Migration Policy Institute highlights that most historic deportation totals included large numbers of returns at the border — a practice much more common in earlier decades — while contemporary enforcement mixes interior removals with border returns ^[6]. Any direct Obama–Trump numerical comparison must specify which of these metrics is being used ^[5].

2. What the major tallies say: Obama’s totals were larger in many widely cited series

Multiple outlets and analyses report that Obama presided over the largest aggregate number of removals in recent decades. Factchequeado reports 2,749,706 deportations/removals during Obama’s eight years (an average of 942/day) and notes that some years under Obama had the highest daily averages ^[2]. Longstanding coverage — including ABC News and other outlets — also recorded Obama’s removals as higher than other modern presidents, sometimes placing Obama’s total removals around 2.5–3.0 million across two terms depending on inclusion of returns and the exact years counted ^{[7] [8]}. These counts contrast with lower annual peaks under Trump in some datasets ^[9].

3. Trump-era counts: numbers vary by period and metric

Reporting on Trump-era removals is mixed because of differing windows and definitions. Some reports place removals under Trump’s first presidency at roughly 1.2–2.0 million when combining removals and returns across fiscal years 2017–2020; others emphasize that interior removals during Trump did not reach the highest annual peaks of the late Bush/early Obama years ^{[4] [5]}. More recent reporting of the second Trump administration ^[10] shows large short-term numbers — Factchequeado counted 128,039 removals in Jan–Jun 2025 — but that short window should not be equated with a full‑term total ^[2]. Wikipedia’s summary of late‑2020s coverage reports disputed or divergent estimates about the scale of deportations under Trump’s later presidency, including administration claims and lower external estimates ^[11].

4. Why daily averages and short windows can mislead

Factchequeado highlights differences in daily averages across administrations: Obama averaged 942 removals/day over eight years, with a first‑term peak of about 1,088/day and a second‑term drop to ~794/day; by contrast, Factchequeado measured 810/day for Trump in Jan–Jun 2025 — high but still not exceeding Obama’s peak years ^[2]. Newsweek and The Independent note that some short bursts (for example, the first two weeks of the 2025 administration) produced thousands of removals, but those short bursts do not substitute for full‑term cumulative comparisons and can be influenced by policy shocks or operational surges ^{[3] [4]}.

5. Enforcement priorities and composition matter as much as totals

Analysts emphasize that who is being removed changed between administrations: Obama’s later years prioritized people with criminal convictions, whereas Trump’s policies removed broader categories of noncitizens and some reporting says interior arrests and detention increased in certain periods even if total removals did not reach Obama-era peaks ^{[5] [12]}. Factchequeado also reports that under Trump-era 2025 enforcement, many arrests were of people without criminal records — an important qualitative shift even when absolute totals are compared ^[2].

6. Bottom line and reporting limitations

Available sources consistently report that, on commonly cited historical tallies that include removals and returns, Obama’s two terms produced more documented removals than Trump’s comparable periods; exact totals depend on whether returns, self‑deportation/turnbacks, and which fiscal years are included ^{[2] [4] [5]}. Sources do not provide a single uncontested side‑by‑side table for every metric; therefore, any definitive numerical claim should state the metric (formal removals vs. returns vs. combined) and the time window used ^{[6] [5]}.

If you want, I can build a compact table comparing (a) formal removals, (b) returns/turnbacks, and (c) combined totals for the Obama and Trump periods using the cited figures above and flagging where sources disagree.