Deportations under US presidents: how the numbers compare
Official DHS statistics show removals, returns and pandemic-era expulsions under Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden. Which categories are counted changes the totals sharply, so this explainer sets them out side by side.
Published
Definitions
- Removal: a formal deportation based on a removal order. It carries penalties if the person later re-enters.
- Return: a departure without a removal order, often a quick turnaround at the border. Before FY2009 DHS counted all returns in a single category.
- Title 42 expulsion: a pandemic-era public-health expulsion used from March 2020 to May 2023. DHS does not count these as deportations.
Totals differ by source because some count only removals, some add returns, and some include Title 42 expulsions. Totals also differ because ICE-only figures (such as those from TRAC) exclude Border Patrol and port-of-entry actions, and because DHS revises earlier years. For example, FY2020 removals are 237,364 in the 2022 yearbook and 234,510 in the 2023 edition.
By presidency (fiscal years, DHS figures)
| President | Fiscal years | Removals | Returns | Title 42 expulsions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinton | 1993-2000 | 869,646 | 11,421,259 | none |
| G.W. Bush | 2001-2008 | 2,012,539 | 8,316,311 | none |
| Obama | 2009-2016 | 3,062,466 | 2,186,427 | none |
| Trump (1st term) | 2017-2020 | 1,193,573 | 598,350 | 206,790 |
| Biden | 2021-2023 | 372,650 | 882,070 | 2,754,120 |
| Trump (2nd term) | 20 Jan 2025-31 Jul 2026 | about 570,000 | about 410,000 | none |
Fiscal years run October to September, so they do not line up exactly with presidential terms. The second-term figures are MPI estimates, not DHS yearbook data. MPI gives about 980,000 total deportations and about 380,000 removals a year, and the split shown is our calculation from MPI's figures. The Biden row does not include FY2024, because that year was not in the yearbook edition we used.
Annual highs
- Removals: the record is FY2013, under President Obama, with about 432,000 (DHS; Pew reported 438,421 from the data first released). Removals were about 380,000 in each of FY2009 and FY2010.
- Removals plus returns: the highest total was 1.86 million in FY2000, under President Clinton, almost all of them returns (DHS; MPI).
- Title 42 expulsions: these exceeded 1 million in each of FY2021 and FY2022 (DHS).
How this was checked
Annual numbers come from DHS's Office of Homeland Security Statistics yearbook Table 39, which is the primary source. We added up the fiscal years for each presidency ourselves. Averages and records were cross-checked against the Migration Policy Institute and Pew Research Center. The second-term figures are MPI estimates based on DHS data obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Related: US carried out about 980,000 deportations in first 18 months of Trump's second term, MPI estimates
How this was checked
Confirmed by at least two independent sources
- Annual removals, returns and Title 42 expulsions are from DHS OHSS yearbook Table 39 (2017, 2022 and 2023 editions), cross-checked against MPI and Pew.
- MPI puts average annual removals at 392,000 in Obama's first term and 373,000 in his second, with a record of more than 432,000 in FY2013 (MPI; DHS).
- MPI estimates about 980,000 total deportations (removals plus returns) from 20 January 2025 to 31 July 2026, including about 380,000 removals a year (MPI; AP; Bloomberg Law).
Not confirmed — treat with caution
- FY2024 and later official yearbook tables were not yet published in the edition we used; the Biden row covers FY2021-2023 only.
Sources
- Primary Yearbook 2023, Table 39: Noncitizen removals, returns and expulsions, FY1892-2023 — DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics, 2026-08-14
- Primary Yearbook 2022, Table 39 — DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics, 2023-11-14
- Primary Yearbook 2017, Table 39 — DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics, 2018
- Reporting U.S. Deportations and "Self-Deportations" in the First 18 Months of the Second Trump Term (fact sheet) — Migration Policy Institute, 2026-10
- Reporting Comparing the Biden and Trump Deportation Records — Migration Policy Institute, 2024
- Reporting U.S. deportations of immigrants reach record high in 2013 — Pew Research Center, 2014-10-02
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