New data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) underscores a striking disparity between the deportation records of the Biden and Trump administrations. During President Joe Biden’s first four years in office, approximately 545,252 illegal aliens were deported—a stark drop of nearly 390,000 compared to the 935,000 deportations carried out during President Donald Trump’s first term. The numbers paint a clear picture: Biden’s administration has significantly scaled back deportations even as illegal immigration has surged to record levels.
While deportations did rise in Fiscal Year 2024 to almost 271,500, this late-game effort hardly compensates for the administration’s earlier leniency. Biden’s first three years in office were marked by a drastic reduction in deportations, leaving the United States with hundreds of thousands more illegal aliens than under a more enforcement-focused approach. For an administration estimated to have overseen the arrival of about 8 million migrants in the same period, the math doesn’t exactly scream “border security.”
The contrast with Trump’s approach is even more glaring when examining interior deportations—cases where illegal aliens are arrested within the United States rather than at the border. Under Biden, fewer than 152,000 interior deportations were conducted from Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2024. By comparison, Trump’s ICE agents managed over 325,000 interior deportations during his first term. That’s a reduction of over 50 percent under Biden, raising questions about the administration’s commitment to upholding immigration law.
Biden’s softer stance on deportations coincides with what many critics are calling the largest wave of illegal immigration in U.S. history. Over the past four years, more than 10 million migrants have arrived at the nation’s borders—a number that dwarfs previous records. Instead of deterring illegal crossings, the administration’s policies appear to have fueled them, creating a cascading crisis that stretches from overwhelmed border facilities to strained local communities.
While the White House has occasionally touted its enforcement efforts, the numbers tell a different story. The drastic reduction in deportations and the unprecedented surge in illegal crossings suggest that immigration enforcement has taken a back seat to other priorities under Biden. For many, this isn’t just a policy failure; it’s a deliberate abdication of responsibility, leaving Americans to deal with the fallout of a border crisis that shows no signs of slowing.
