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Fact check: How many undocumented immigrants have been deported in 2024?
Executive Summary
The best available official tally for the period referenced is that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed 271,484 noncitizens with final orders of removal in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, a figure reported in ICE’s FY2024 reporting and corroborated by multiple news outlets in December 2024 [1] [2] [3]. That ICE total sits alongside larger Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP) figures counting removals and returns exceeding 700,000 for FY2024, reflecting differing definitions and agencies’ reporting scopes that explain the apparent gap between headline numbers [4] [5] [6].
1. What people are claiming — the headline numbers that circulate
Public discussion has produced two recurring headline claims: “about 271,000 deported in 2024” and “over 700,000 removals and returns in 2024.” The 271,484 figure specifically references ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations’ (ERO) removals of noncitizens with final orders during FY2024, a count emphasized in late-December reports [1] [2] [3]. The larger roughly 700,000 figure comes from CBP and DHS tallies that combine removals and returns across border operations and include actions outside ICE’s ERO final-order removals, producing a broader operational total for the fiscal year [4] [6].
2. What ICE’s own reporting actually says — narrow but concrete
ICE’s FY2024 reporting documents 271,484 removals of noncitizens with final orders to 192 countries, and it breaks out criminal history and other characteristics within that cohort; for example, 88,763 among them had charges or convictions for criminal activity [2] [3]. ICE also published quarter-level snapshots showing nearly 68,000 removed in Q3 of FY2024, a 69% year-over-year increase for that quarter, but that quarterly release did not present a consolidated calendar-year total [5]. These ICE numbers are precise about final orders but do not cover all DHS border encounters or administrative returns.
3. Why CBP’s higher totals look different — different categories, bigger net
CBP’s preliminary FY2024 reporting indicated DHS completed more than 700,000 removals and returns, a figure that includes CBP returns at ports of entry and along the border, expulsions under Title 42 when in effect, and other administrative removals that fall outside ICE ERO’s final-order removals count [4]. This broader DHS/CBP tally therefore captures different operational streams — including immediate turn-backs and non-final-order departures — which makes it larger than ICE’s final-order removals figure. Both numbers are accurate within their defined scopes, but they are not interchangeable [5] [4].
4. How definitions and timeframes drive confusion — fiscal year vs. calendar year
Reports uniformly refer to FY2024, which runs October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024; some media summaries call this “2024” without clarifying fiscal vs. calendar framing, producing public confusion [1] [4]. ICE’s 271,484 count covers the fiscal year for ERO final-order removals, while CBP’s more-than-700,000 measure aggregates different types of encounters across the same fiscal period. Additionally, quarterly highlights such as the nearly 68,000 removals in Q3 are useful for trend analysis but do not substitute for the consolidated FY total [5].
5. What the trendlines show — a resurgence compared with recent years
Multiple sources note FY2024 removals represented the highest totals since 2014 and marked a sharp increase relative to the previous two fiscal years, described as roughly a 90% increase from recent low points in ICE activity [1] [2]. Quarterly jumps — for instance, the 69% rise in Q3 FY2024 versus Q3 FY2023 — reinforce that the increase was broad-based across the year [5]. The reporting attributes the rise to expanded enforcement operations, increased deportation flights, and streamlined travel procedures, though these operational explanations vary by agency account [6] [5].
6. Who is included and who is excluded — criminal records and destinations
ICE’s FY2024 breakdown highlights that a substantial subset of removed individuals had criminal charges or convictions, with specific tallies such as 88,763 criminal-associated removals noted in ICE reporting [2] [3]. ICE also emphasized removals to 192 countries, with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras among the largest destinations in media summaries [6]. CBP’s broader total likely includes many non-criminal administrative returns and expulsions; therefore, the composition of the two tallies differs materially in legal status and reasons for removal [3] [4].
7. Limitations, reporting gaps, and missing context the public should know
Public summaries often omit that ICE and CBP employ different operational definitions and case types, producing different headline counts that are both technically correct. ICE’s quarter-level releases did not provide an early FY-wide total, and media outlets filled gaps with later annual reporting [5] [1]. The available reporting does not uniformly separate voluntary returns from forced removals in media headlines, nor does it reconcile administrative expulsions versus removals under final orders, leaving important context out of many summaries [4] [6].
8. Bottom line — answer to “How many undocumented immigrants have been deported in 2024?”
If “deported” is taken to mean ICE ERO removals with final orders in FY2024, the established total is 271,484 [1] [2] [3]. If one uses DHS/CBP’s broader operational count that includes removals and returns across border enforcement, the figure exceeds 700,000 for FY2024 [4] [6]. Both numbers are documented and correct within their definitions; the disparity stems from differences in agency scope and terminology, not simple reporting error [5] [4].