Deportations Under Trump and What the Numbers Mean

How Many People Has Trump Deported?

ICE’s own data shows 356,389 removals from October 1, 2025 through July 11, 2026. That is the latest figure in the detention statistics workbook ICE posted on July 20, 2026 (ICE). It works out to about 1,255 removals a day over 284 days. At that pace, the full fiscal year would end near 458,035.

For fiscal 2025, the same workbooks show 319,980 removals through September 20, 2025, already 18% more than all of fiscal 2024. Fiscal 2025 ran from October 2024, so its first three and a half months came before the inauguration.

DHS uses a bigger number. On January 20, 2026, the department said it had carried out “more than 675,000 deportations” in the president’s first year (DHS). DHS did not say what the total includes or publish a breakdown, so it cannot be checked against ICE’s count.

Why Deportation Counts Disagree

Each count answers a different question, so they should never be added together or compared as if they were the same. The table shows what each one includes.

A removal and a return are different outcomes. A removal is a formal deportation under an order, and it bars the person from coming back for 5 to 20 years in most cases (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(A)). A return sends someone home without an order, usually at the border. ICE’s footnote says its removal data “include Returns and Expulsions” (ICE).

ICE Removals by Year Since 2008

ICE removals peaked under President Obama, fell to a low in 2021, and have climbed every year since. ICE removed 409,849 people in fiscal 2012 and 59,011 in fiscal 2021, when border cases were handled mostly under Title 42 instead. By July 11, fiscal 2026 had reached 87% of the 2012 count with more than two months of the fiscal year left. ICE has posted no data past that date.

The chart spans three presidents. Fiscal 2016, Obama’s last full year, had 240,255 removals, and fiscal 2019, the last full year of Trump’s first term before the pandemic, had 267,258. Fiscal 2024, Biden’s last full year, had 271,484 (ICE).

Removals Month by Month in 2025 and 2026

The monthly pace rose by about 66% between the first half of 2025 and the first half of 2026, from an average of 17,758 a month to 29,491. ICE does not publish removals by month, but its workbooks do show how many people left ICE detention each month to be removed. That count is smaller than total removals because it misses people ICE never detained.

Border Expulsions Made the Biden Totals Larger

DHS-wide totals were highest from 2021 to 2023 because they counted Title 42 expulsions at the border. Under a pandemic health order, Border Patrol turned people back without an immigration hearing from March 2020 to May 2023. In fiscal 2022, expulsions were 75% of all 1,467,940 DHS repatriations (DHS OHSS).

Once Title 42 ended, formal removals rose. DHS recorded 329,990 removals in fiscal 2024, against 102,760 in fiscal 2022. This is why a single “deportations” figure can make one administration look tougher or softer depending on which count is used.

Self-Deportation Claims

DHS estimates that 2,200,000 people deported themselves in the first year, but it has not shown how it reached that number (DHS). Self-deportation means leaving the country without an arrest or order, and no federal system records every departure.

Five House Republicans, led by Rep. Chip Roy, asked DHS in a June 10, 2026 letter to “explain the methodology and timeline” of its self-deportation estimate, then 1.9 million, and to break down its removals (House letter).

The administration’s stated target is higher still. A White House release on August 13, 2025 quoted CNN describing the president as moving “to remove as many as 1 million immigrants a year” (White House). The release does not say how that goal is counted, so ICE’s fiscal-year count cannot be measured against it directly. The House letter describes it as one million deportations “for a single calendar year.”

How Many People ICE Is Holding Now

ICE held 65,765 people on July 11, 2026, and 70.6% had no criminal conviction (TRAC). The record was 70,766 in late January 2026. Detention is a one-day snapshot, not a count of removals, but it shows how many cases are moving toward deportation at once. Our ICE arrest powers guide covers detention in more depth.

What DHS Stopped Publishing

The most complete federal deportation data has not been updated since late 2024. The Office of Homeland Security Statistics posted its last monthly enforcement tables and repatriation figures in January 2025, covering November 2024 (DHS OHSS). ICE’s annual report page lists no fiscal 2025 report as of October 15, 2026.

Common Questions

What You Can Do

1. Quote the count and its source together. When you share a deportation number, say whether it is ICE removals or a DHS claim, and give the date.
2. Ask Congress for the data. Five House Republicans asked DHS for “a detailed accounting” of removals in June 2026. Ask your representative to press DHS to resume its monthly tables.
3. Learn your rights before you need them. Our ICE arrest powers guide covers warrants and what to do at the door, and our asylum guide explains how protection claims work.
4. Follow local policy. Whether your county jail works with ICE shapes how many local arrests lead to removal. See our sanctuary cities guide.