Which U.S. president oversaw the highest number of deportations by year?
Executive summary
Data and reporting show different presidents lead on different measures: Barack Obama oversaw the largest cumulative removals in recent decades (about 5.3 million over eight years according to several compilers), while single-year and short-term peaks shifted later — Biden’s administration reached a record single fiscal-year total of 271,484 removals in FY2024 (highest single-year total in the dataset) and Trump’s 2025 second term is being reported as on pace to produce very large annual totals, with some official and partisan claims projecting as many as 400,000–600,000 removals in calendar 2025 (reports vary) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not give a single, uncontested answer that one president definitively “oversaw the highest number of deportations by year” without clarifying which year, which metric (annual fiscal year vs. calendar year vs. cumulative), and which data source is used (DHS, Migration Policy Institute, independent trackers) [4] [1].
1. How the numbers differ depending on the metric — annual, monthly and cumulative
Counting “who deported the most” depends on whether you look at single-year spikes, fiscal-year totals, short-term surges, or totals over an entire presidency. The Migration Policy Institute notes that the Biden administration carried out about 1.1 million deportations from FY2021 through February 2024 and that this pace could match Trump’s four‑year total of roughly 1.5 million removals — a comparison across multi‑year spans, not a single-year peak [4]. Independent summaries and news outlets report that March 2022 was the highest monthly total under Biden at 147,080, while Newsweek cites an October 2020 monthly high of 91,120 under Trump — different peaks in different months and years [1].
2. The Obama-era “most removals” claim and its data limits
Several analysts and fact-checkers conclude that the Obama administration oversaw very high cumulative removals: one commonly referenced figure is roughly 5.3 million removals across his two terms, which has led outlets to label Obama the “deporter‑in‑chief” in comparative discussions [1] [5]. But scholars and data projects caution that ICE/DHS reporting and historical yearbooks have classification and completeness issues; the Deportation Data Project and other researchers warn that the underlying records may be incomplete or inconsistent across administrations, which complicates direct comparisons [5].
3. Biden’s record single fiscal-year total and what it means
Reporting notes that FY2024 saw 271,484 removals — described as the highest single-year total in the dataset cited by one source — which positions Biden’s administration as achieving sharp increases in a single fiscal year [2]. Migration Policy Institute analysis also highlights that by February 2024 roughly 1.1 million removals had occurred since FY2021, putting Biden on pace to match past multi‑year totals [4]. These are fiscal‑year and multi‑year framings rather than a clean “most in one calendar year” label.
4. The Trump administration: first term, second term and contested 2025 figures
Trump’s first term is often discussed in multi‑year totals (roughly 2.1 million removals during his first term, per some press summaries) and his second term in 2025 is described by DHS and pro‑administration releases as moving very rapidly — DHS statements and some departmental materials claimed milestones like “over 2 million removed or self‑deported since January 20” in 2025 narratives, and the DHS site and other partisan statements suggested the 2025 pace could reach 400,000–600,000 removals in a year [3] [6] [7]. Independent reporting (e.g., The Guardian, Newsweek) documents large numbers during shutdowns and early 2025 actions but also shows variance in methodology and the split between CBP and ICE counts [8] [1].
5. Why sources disagree and what to watch for in the data
Disagreements arise because DHS, ICE, CBP and outside analysts use differing definitions (removals vs. returns vs. expulsions vs. self‑deportation), different time frames (calendar vs. fiscal year), and sometimes include voluntary departures that other compilers exclude [4] [1] [9]. Fact‑checking projects and academic groups warn that ICE’s public tables may omit fields or records, producing undercounts or uncertainties for direct presidential comparisons [5].
6. Bottom line for the original question
There is no single uncontested answer in the provided sources that names one president as having “the highest number of deportations by year” without specifying the metric. Obama is commonly cited as having the largest cumulative removals over his two terms (about 5.3 million in widely cited tallies), Biden recorded the highest single fiscal‑year total cited in the recent dataset (271,484 in FY2024), and Trump’s 2025 pace has been reported by administration sources and some outlets as on track to produce unprecedented annual totals — but figures vary and are contested across DHS releases, news outlets and independent analysts [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available sources do not mention a single authoritative table that resolves all methodological differences [5].