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Read this article in Spanish: ¿Obama deportó más que Trump? Datos y criterios de deportaciones bajo diferentes gobiernos
We received a question through our Instagram account asking “if it's true what people say” that President Barack Obama deported more immigrants than Donald Trump. To answer our follower, Factchequeado reviewed the public deportation data available from 1993 to March 2026, to compare the policies of both presidents and other administrations.
Deportation statistics (“removals”) are not available in a single repository, updated information is lacking, and there are limitations that we note at the end of this text in the methodology section.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not have publicly available deportation figures for Trump's second term. It has data through December 2024, but not all of it is in the same link or in a statistical record that breaks it down by year.
Given this lack of updated figures, at Factchequeado we analyzed the existing publicly available data on the websites of both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE. Additionally, we analyzed two datasets from ICE obtained by the Deportation Data Project through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which extend the data through March 20, 2026. We published our first report on August 20, 2025; this second one updates the statistics with the new data.
The Data Project is an academic and litigation initiative that collects and publishes datasets on U.S. government immigration control and is led by David Hausman, professor at UC Berkeley School of Law; Graeme Blair, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and Amber Qureshi, an attorney specializing in federal immigration and FOIA litigation.
What 30+ Years of Deportations Show Across 5 Presidents
Despite the challenges posed by current migration figures, data compiled and analyzed by Factchequeado shows that President Obama deported more immigrants than any other president in the last three decades.
Obama's immigration policies primarily focused on deporting immigrants with criminal charges and those considered national security threats, especially during his final years in office. By contrast, under President Trump, criminal priorities were eliminated, categorizing all undocumented individuals as deportable.
For instance, in this article, we explained that 80% of immigrants taken to detention centers in the first months of Trump's second term had no criminal record. Yet authorities publicly describe them as "the worst of the worst." Additionally, detentions of immigrants without crimes rose from 1,048 in January 2025 to 11,972 in June 2025.
Our analysis covers fiscal year 1993 through June 26 of fiscal year 2025, encompassing the administrations of Democrat Bill Clinton, Republican George W. Bush, Democrat Barack Obama, Democrat Joe Biden, and Republican Donald Trump.
We provide a breakdown of the statistics by president and by period of government.
Bill Clinton (1993-2000) - 8 years
863,958 deportations | Annual average: 107,994 | Daily average over 8 years: 296
All figures are based on fiscal years (October-September)
FY 1993: 42,469 deportations (125/day).
FY 1994: 45,621 deportations (125/day).
FY 1995: 50,873 deportations (139/day).
FY 1996: 69,588 deportations (191/day).
FY 1997: 114,292 deportations (313/day).
FY 1998: 172,547 deportations (473/day).
FY 1999: 180,101 deportations (493/day).
FY 2000: 188,467 deportations (516/day).
Context of the period: Under Clinton, deportations focused primarily on people with criminal backgrounds and immigration violations. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 expanded deportation categories and reduced available legal defenses.
George W. Bush (2001-2008) - 8 years
2,021,965 deportations | Annual average: 252,745 | Daily average over 8 years: 692
FY 2001: 189,026 deportations (518/day).
FY 2002: 165,168 deportations (453/day).
FY 2003: 211,098 deportations (578/day).
FY 2004: 240,665 deportations (659/day).
FY 2005: 246,431 deportations (675/day).
FY 2006: 280,974 deportations (770/day).
FY 2007: 319,382 deportations (875/day).
FY 2008: 369,221 deportations (1,012/day).
Context of the period: Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, Bush prioritized deportations for national security reasons. He expanded the operations of the newly created ICE (2003) and intensified workplace raids. Deportations included both criminals and those accused of civil immigration violations.
Obama's First Administration (2009-2012)
1,589,451 deportations | Annual average: 397,362 | Daily average: 1,088
FY 2009: 389,834 deportations (1,068/day).
FY 2010: 392,862 deportations (1,076/day).
FY 2011: 396,906 deportations (1,087/day).
FY 2012: 409,849 deportations (1,123/day).
In 2012, a historic peak was reached, with an average of 1,123 deportations per day. This unprecedented figure led immigrant organizations to label Obama the “Deporter in Chief.”
Context of the period: Obama's first administration maintained the Secure Communities program launched in 2008 under Bush's presidency, a system where local police sent fingerprints to the FBI for identification, and the FBI sent the information to ICE to detect immigrants without legal status or with deportation orders. Deporting people with serious crimes and recent border crossers became a priority. Expulsions of immigrants without
criminal records in the country's interior decreased.
However, of the 375,000 immigrants expelled during the 6 years the program operated (active until 2014), more than 70% did not have crimes considered a national security threat, according to data from Syracuse University's TRAC Center (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse).
Amid criticism over the high number of deportations, Obama announced on June 15, 2012 the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Obama's Second Administration (2013-2016)
1,160,255 | Annual average: 290,063 | Daily average: 794
FY 2013: 368,644 deportations (1,010/day).
FY 2014: 315,943 deportations (866/day).
FY 2015: 235,413 deportations (645/day).
FY 2016: 240,255 deportations (658/day).
Context of the period: During the first fiscal year of Obama's second administration, thousands of immigrants were deported for entering without authorization (46,759 cases), a misdemeanor; driving under the influence of alcohol (29,852 cases); and for traffic violations (15,548 cases), despite the goal being to focus on level 1 criminals.
In 2014, Secure Communities closed, and DHS created the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) with 4 categories for deportation:
Priority 1: national security threats (terrorists, spies), dangerous criminals, and recent border arrivals after January 1, 2014.
Priority 2: people with an extensive history of immigration violations (those who had recently crossed the border but were not priority 1).
Priority 3: immigrants with minor crimes but sentences of more than 90 days (DUI, domestic violence, theft, etc.).
Priority 4: people with final deportation orders issued after January 1, 2014.
With the new priority system, deportations dropped in the last three years of his administration to less than 1,000 per day.
The Obama years: From 2009 to 2016, his administration deported 2,749,706 individuals, averaging 343,713 deportations per year—the highest in 32 years. In 2012, the daily peak reached 1,123 deportations.
Trump's First Administration (2017-2020)
935,346 deportations | Annual average: 233,836 | Daily average: 641
FY 2017: 226,119 deportations (620/day).
FY 2018: 256,085 deportations (702/day).
FY 2019: 267,258 deportations (732/day).
FY 2020: 185,884 deportations (509/day).
Context of the period: Trump reversed the changes with PEP, and his administration eliminated the DHS's 4 deportation priority categories. He signed an executive order to return to the Secure Communities system and arrests intensified in the country's interior. Deportations due to traffic violations increased again (138% after 9 months of the government change).
He implemented, with the endorsement of former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the “Remain in Mexico” policy, a program that forced non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for months or years while U.S. immigration courts resolved their cases.
Migrant communities, including families with children, set up tents on the Mexican side of the border and were exposed to extortion, kidnapping, and other crimes. The measure faced judicial restrictions.
Joe Biden (2021-2025) - 4 years
545,252 deportations | Annual average: 136,313 | Daily average: 373
FY 2021: 59,011 deportations (162/day).
FY 2022: 72,177 deportations (198/day).
FY 2023: 142,580 deportations (391/day).
FY 2024: 271,484 deportations (744/day).
Context of the period: Biden ordered a 100-day pause on interior deportations for people with final removal orders, except for national security threats, recent border crossings (after November 1, 2020), and cases where the law required deportation. But a federal judge in Texas blocked it after 6 days.
His administration formally ended the “Remain in Mexico” program, and implemented more selective interim priorities focused on 3 categories: (1) national security threats, (2) recent border crossings, and (3) people released from prison with convictions for serious aggravated felonies who represent a public threat.
The DHS established “Prosecutorial Discretion Guidelines” that maintained the three categories but added mitigating factors (age, time in the United States, military service, family ties) that agents had to consider before arresting or deporting someone, even if they were in a priority category.
Interior deportations fell and returns at the southern border and immigrants convicted of serious crime increased. He launched the CBP One program, a mobile application to request an appointment from outside the United States to process asylum.
Title 42 Expulsions under Trump and Biden from March 2020 to May 2023
Between March 2020 and May 2023, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) carried out 2,381,810 expedited removals under Title 42 at the southern border. Expelled immigrants had no right to asylum process, and these figures are not included in formal removals.
Title 42 is a 1944 public health provision that allows restricting entry to prevent disease.
Trump began using it for immigration expulsions in March 2020 as a COVID-19 measure, and Biden maintained it during part of his term.
Expedited removals by fiscal year:
2020: 206,770.
2021: 1,071,074.
2022: 1,103,966.
Trump's Second Administration (Jan. 20, 2025, to March 10, 2026)
Fiscal year 2025: 367,407 deportations (1,006/day).
Fiscal year 2026 (Oct. 1, 2025, to March 10, 2026): 191,268 deportations (1,188/day).
For the entire fiscal year 2025, we analyzed ICE deportation statistics obtained by the Deportation Data Project. We also have data for part of fiscal year 2026, but only from Oct. 1, 2025, to March 10, 2026. After this date, no more statistics are available.
President Trump's second administration began Jan. 20, 2025, and since our analysis is focused on fiscal years, 3 months and 19 days were under Joe Biden's government. If we discount these days with Biden and examine only the total days under Trump from the available data — 415 days from inauguration day until March 10, 2026 — the statistic yields 452,491 deportations: an average of 1,090 people deported per day.
For now, the analyzed figures show that fiscal year 2025 deportations averaged 1,006 per day, very close to the record in deportations under Obama (1,123 daily in 2012). As for fiscal year 2026, it is incomplete and we only have data for 161 days; however, the daily average of deported people exceeds that of all previous years, at 1,188. If this continues, it could become the worst year in recent history.
Broken down by month, fiscal year and president in office:
FY 2025 - Under Biden's government
October 2024: 30,543 / with Biden | Average per day: 985.
November 2024: 28,958 / with Biden | Average per day: 965.
December 2024: 31,472 / with Biden | Average per day: 1,015.
FY 2025 - Under Biden and Trump's government
January 2025: 26,132 / Biden + Trump | Average per day: 843.
FY 2025 - Under Trump's government
January 2025 (Jan. 20-31): 10,921 deportations (910 in 12 days).
February 2025: 27,505 / with Trump | Average per day: 982
March 2025: 30,440 / with Trump | Average per day: 982.
April 2025: 30,341 / with Trump | Average per day: 1,011.
May 2025: 32,525 / with Trump | Average per day: 1,049.
June 2025: 29,540 / with Trump | Average per day: 985.
July 2025: 31,216 / with Trump | Average per day: 1,040.
August 2025: 32,978 / with Trump | Average per day: 1,064.
September 2025: 35,757 / with Trump | Average per day: 1,192.
FY 2026 - Under Trump's government
October 2025: 38,412 deportations | Average per day: 1,239.
November 2025: 36,429 deportations | Average per day: 1,214.
December 2025: 39,597 deportations | Average per day: 1,277.
January 2026: 35,407 deportations | Average per day: 1,142.
February 2026: 33,030 deportations | Average per day: 1,179.
March 2026 (March 1-10): 8,393 deportations | Average per day: 839.
Period Context: Trump began his second administration exceeding the average of more than 1,000 deportations per day in April 2025. (We clarify that in a previous version of this analysis published Aug. 20, 2025, we noted that for that same day we had published that there had been more than 2,000 deportations. If the number changes now, it is due to new ICE data obtained by the Data Project and reviewed by us).
The peak of deportations under Trump was recorded in the month of December 2025, with 1,277 daily; then October 2025, with 1,239; followed by November 2025, with 1,217; followed by September 2025, with 1,192; February 2026, with 1,179; and January 2026, with 1,142.
Only 29% of people deported by this administration fall under the convicted criminal category.
Trump has implemented anti-immigrant executive orders, large-scale military-style raids and expanded cooperation with local authorities.
He signed agreements with third countries to receive expelled immigrants, without granting them the right to due process, for example, Costa Rica, Panama, Rwanda, Kosovo or South Sudan. The United States sent 238 Venezuelans to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 and labeled most of them as members of Tren de Aragua based on their tattoos, even though they were not. Several of these decisions have faced challenges and blocks in federal courts.
In January 2026, in one of the ICE and CBP operations focused on Minnesota, agents killed U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Weeks later it became known that ICE had also killed U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez on Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025, whose family is of Latino origin.
Arrests during Trump's term have broken records: the number of people in detention centers exceeded 60,000 on Aug. 11, 2025, according to ICE data, and 8 out of 10 have no criminal record, as we told you in this article.
Methodology
We examined the Immigration Statistics Yearbooks from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), available only through fiscal year 2022; ICE annual reports through December 2024. Additionally, at Factchequeado we analyzed new datasets on deportations and arrests from fiscal year 2025 and the first 5 months of fiscal year 2026, provided by ICE to the Deportation Data Project via FOIA request.
It's important to clarify that the term “deportation” commonly used does not correspond to the official terminology in U.S. government public records, where they are called “removals.” Removals are formal orders to leave the country issued by an immigration judge or ICE officer that have severe legal consequences: removed persons are prohibited from returning to the United States for periods ranging from five years to permanent bans, depending on the case.
*This analysis was updated April 20, 2026, with ICE data through March 10, 2026, obtained by the Deportation Data Project after the Trump administration stopped making deportation statistics publicly available. The number of arrests was also updated through March 10, 2026.
**Originally published Aug. 20, 2025.
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Primera fecha de publicación de este artículo: 20/08/2025
