In a startling revelation, deportations from the United States soared to their highest level in a decade under the Biden administration, eclipsing even the numbers seen during Donald Trump’s presidency. A newly released government report exposes the scale and intensity of immigration enforcement as illegal border crossings surged to record levels.
Deportations Reach 10-Year Peak Under Biden
The figures are staggering – more than 270,000 immigrants were deported in fiscal year 2024 alone, nearly doubling the 142,580 removals from the previous year. It marks the highest annual tally since 2014, when 315,943 people were deported. Remarkably, Biden’s deportation numbers outpaced every single year of Trump’s 2017-2021 term.
The surge in forced removals was fueled by a multi-pronged approach from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency ramped up deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures to quickly remove people to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. In total, deportees were sent to 192 countries worldwide.
Biden’s Deportation Surge vs Trump’s Unfulfilled Promises
While Biden took office pledging to roll back Trump’s draconian immigration policies, he ultimately toughened his enforcement approach in the face of unprecedented illegal immigration levels. Still, Trump’s spokesperson Karoline Leavitt dismissed Biden’s deportation numbers as “insignificant” compared to the “immigration and national security nightmare” she claims Biden created.
Trump, who won re-election in November promising to expel record numbers of undocumented immigrants, plans to launch the “largest mass deportation operation” in US history, according to Leavitt. His administration intends to marshal all federal resources to fuel the deportation drive. Still, Trump struggled to ramp up removals in his first term, deporting fewer people in 2019 than in most years under Obama.
Biden’s Contested Legacy on Immigration
The high deportation numbers paint a conflicting picture of Biden’s immigration record. While his administration sought to project a more humane approach, it now stands accused of quiet but aggressive enforcement rivaling his predecessor. The Guardian’s investigation found that Biden helped lay the groundwork for expanding immigration jails, paving the way for Trump’s mass deportation plans.
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US as of 2022, a figure some analysts now put as high as 14 million. As illegal border crossings shatter records and enforcement reaches new intensities, America’s undocumented population finds itself in an increasingly precarious position between two administrations with vastly different rhetoric but sometimes similar results.
The Road Ahead
As the Trump administration prepares to take power with an ambitious deportation agenda, the future for millions of undocumented immigrants is shrouded in uncertainty. Biden’s immigration legacy, already complex and contested, may be overshadowed by a looming enforcement operation of unprecedented scale.
The battle over America’s borders and the fate of its undocumented residents continues to rage, with deportations serving as a flashpoint. As the numbers reach historic heights and a transition of power looms, the country remains as divided as ever on an issue that touches the very core of its identity and values.
