US deportations rose to decade high in fiscal 2024, outpacing Trump years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. deportations of immigrants rose in the past year to the highest level since 2014, according to a U.S. government report released on Thursday, part of a broader push by outgoing President Joe Biden to reduce illegal immigration.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported some 271,000 immigrants to 192 countries in fiscal year 2024, which ended on Sept. 30, according to the agency’s annual enforcement report. The tally was the highest since Biden took office in 2021 and higher than any year of President-elect Donald Trump’s 2017-2021 administration, according to U.S. government statistics.

Biden, a Democrat, took office pledging to roll back Trump’s more restrictive immigration policies, but struggled with high levels of illegal immigration and gradually toughened his enforcement approach. Trump, a Republican, won another term in the White House in November promising to deport record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. illegally as part of a broader immigration crackdown.

Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Biden’s deportations were insignificant compared to the high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency.

“On day one, President Trump will fix the immigration and national security nightmare that Joe Biden created by launching the largest mass deportation operation of illegal criminals in United States history,” she said.

Some 11 million immigrants lacked legal status or had temporary protections in 2022, according to government and think-tank estimates, a figure that some analysts now place at 13 million-14 million.

The incoming Trump administration plans to tap resources across the federal government to power the planned deportation initiative, Reuters reported last month.

Trump tried to increase deportations during his first term with limited success. ICE removed 267,000 immigrants in fiscal year 2019, fewer than most years under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

When looking at both deportations by ICE and returns to Mexico by U.S. border authorities, Biden had more in fiscal 2023 than any Trump year.

While deportations rose in fiscal year 2024, the number of ICE arrests of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally dropped by 33% compared with the previous year, the agency’s annual report said, attributing the falloff to more officers assisting with border security operations.