Biden administration deported highest number of immigrants in a decade

In its final year in office, the Biden administration has set a new record for deportations in a decade. According to a report released Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 271,484 non-citizens were deported to 192 different countries during fiscal year 2024. While Donald Trump won the November 5 election promising the largest deportation campaign in history, Biden’s deportations have surpassed the Republican’s record of 267,260 during fiscal year 2019.

The sharp rise in deportations was driven by measures aimed at speeding up the process and diplomatic efforts to persuade countries to accept more deportees. ICE noted that deportation flights were increased to countries in Latin America, as well as to nations in Africa and Asia, including China, which had not accepted U.S. deportations for years. Mexico was the top destination for deportees (87,298), followed by Guatemala (66,435) and Honduras (45,923).

The majority of those deported — about 82% — had recently entered the country illegally and had been transferred to ICE by Border Patrol, rather than to detention centers in the interior.

Trump has criticized the current administration for releasing criminals and has pledged to prioritize the deportation of undocumented immigrants with criminal records. However, that policy is not new, as it was first implemented by Barack Obama and continued under Biden. ICE states that it has prioritized detaining individuals who pose a threat to national security. Of those deported, 88,763 (or 32.7%) had criminal records, with an average of 5.63 convictions and/or charges per individual. These included serious charges, such as 47,885 violent assaults, 16,552 sexual offenses, 10,862 weapons-related offenses, 9,453 robberies, 2,699 homicides, and 2,423 kidnappings.

For the past four years, undocumented immigrants who had not committed any crimes were not at risk of deportation. However, that will change in January, when Trump takes office, as the Republican intends to expel all individuals in the country without legal residence. However, it remains uncertain whether he will be able to implement this plan. To do so, Congress must approve an increase in funding to expand ICE’s resources. The agency’s annual report highlights its limitations in carrying out deportations and emphasizes that the number of agents — about 6,000 — has remained unchanged for a decade. Currently, ICE operates with 41,000 beds in detention centers, but Trump has announced plans to increase that number to 100,000.

The Biden administration sought to increase funding through a bipartisan proposal, but Republicans, following Trump’s agenda — who used immigration as a political tool in the elections — blocked the initiative in Congress.

Trump also promised to aggressively ramp up deportations during his first term, but resistance from Democratic-led cities and states prevented him from surpassing the Obama administration’s record of over 400,000 deportations annually. Biden will also have exceeded Trump’s deportation numbers.

On the other hand, the measures introduced by Biden in June to address the massive influx of migrants have resulted in a sharp decline in encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border. After reaching a record high in December 2023, encounters are now at their lowest level since July 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In November, Border Patrol recorded 46,610 encounters between ports of entry — 18% fewer than in October 2024 and 76% fewer than in November 2023.

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