How Many Immigrants Are Deported Every Year: Removals vs. Returns

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out 271,484 removals in fiscal year 2024, and the broader question of how many immigrants are deported each year has no single answer because the federal government tracks two different kinds of departures. Add in the less formal category the government calls “returns,” and annual totals between 2010 and 2020 ranged from roughly 385,000 to more than 850,000. Under the current administration, the pace has climbed sharply again.¹²

The Annual Numbers

ICE’s 271,484 figure for FY 2024 covers noncitizens processed through its Enforcement and Removal Operations division. That count includes people handed off to ICE after expedited removal or voluntary return processing, but it does not capture every departure that Customs and Border Protection handles on its own at the border.¹

The Department of Homeland Security’s combined enforcement reports, which merge ICE and CBP data, tell the fuller story. Between 2010 and 2020, the yearly total of removals plus returns ran from around 385,000 at the low end to over 850,000 at the high end, with the biggest numbers in the early part of that decade and a general decline through the mid-2010s. After 2021, the totals climbed again alongside higher border encounters and shifts in enforcement policy.²³

Removals vs. Returns

The headline gap between different deportation numbers usually comes down to which category is being counted.

A removal is the formal version. An immigration judge or a federal officer issues an order directing someone to leave, and that order goes on the person’s permanent immigration record. It also triggers mandatory reentry bars: five years as a baseline, ten years if the person accumulated a year or more of unlawful presence, and twenty years for a second or subsequent removal. An aggravated felony conviction can make the bar permanent.⁴

A return is less severe. The person leaves without a formal removal order, often through voluntary departure or an administrative return at the border. Returns do not carry the same multi-year reentry bars.

The mix has shifted over time. In 2010, returns heavily outnumbered removals: roughly 472,000 returns to 382,000 removals. By the late 2010s that pattern had reversed as enforcement policy tilted toward more formal removal proceedings.²

The FY 2026 Pace

Enforcement volume has jumped again. ICE removed more than 144,000 individuals in the first four months of FY 2026 (October 2025 through January 2026), putting the agency on pace to exceed 430,000 removals for the full fiscal year. DHS reported in January 2026 that nearly 3 million people had left the country during the prior year as a result of the administration’s enforcement actions, a figure the department describes as including both formal deportations and departures prompted by heightened enforcement pressure.⁵

As of early 2026, ICE holds roughly 68,000 people in immigration detention on any given day, with another approximately 180,000 monitored through alternatives-to-detention programs like ankle monitors and smartphone tracking. The immigration court system has more than 3.3 million cases pending, which shapes how quickly formal removal proceedings can conclude and, in turn, how many removals are recorded in a given year.

Who Gets Deported

Public discussion often centers on people with criminal records, but the ICE data for FY 2024 shows a wider net. About one-third of removals (88,763 of 271,484, or 32.7%) involved individuals with prior convictions or pending criminal charges. The remaining two-thirds (182,721 people) were processed purely for immigration violations such as overstaying a visa or entering without inspection.¹

Among those with criminal records, ICE reported the following offense category totals for FY 2024:

Assaults: 47,885
Sexual assaults and sex offenses: 16,552
Weapons offenses: 10,862
Burglaries: 9,453
Robberies: 4,906
Homicides: 2,699
Kidnappings: 2,423

These figures reflect total convictions and charges across the 88,763 individuals, averaging 5.63 offenses per person.¹

Which Agencies Produce the Numbers

Two agencies inside DHS generate almost all of the deportation data, and they cover different populations.

ICE

ICE handles interior enforcement through its Enforcement and Removal Operations division, which identifies, arrests, detains, and removes noncitizens living in communities across the country. ERO maintains some presence near the border, but the bulk of its work happens inland.⁶⁷

CBP

CBP handles encounters at ports of entry and along the physical border, and it carries out the bulk of expedited removals: cases involving people who arrive without valid documents or who are apprehended shortly after crossing.⁸ CBP’s numbers drive the biggest year-to-year swings in the totals because border encounters respond much more quickly to migration shifts than interior enforcement does.

When ICE and CBP data are combined in DHS annual flow reports, the totals capture departures regardless of where the person was encountered or which process applied.

How People End Up in the Count

Three pathways move people into the removal or return statistics.

Expedited removal is the fast track. A federal officer can order someone removed without an immigration-judge hearing if the person arrived at a port of entry without valid documents, entered by sea and has been in the country less than two years, or was apprehended within 100 miles of the border within 14 days of crossing. Someone who expresses fear of persecution or asks for asylum must be referred for a credible fear interview, and unaccompanied children are exempt and go directly into formal proceedings.⁹

Formal removal proceedings handle most people apprehended in the interior. The case starts with a Notice to Appear filed by ICE, CBP, or USCIS, and it plays out before an immigration judge with rights to counsel (at no cost to the government), to examine evidence, to present a case, and to appeal.¹⁰¹¹

Voluntary departure is the middle path. A person agrees to leave on their own within a set window (up to 120 days if granted early in proceedings, up to 60 days if granted at the conclusion) and avoids a formal removal order. Requirements at the conclusion of proceedings include at least one year of physical presence before the Notice to Appear, five years of good moral character, financial means to leave, and a departure bond. Missing the deadline converts the grant into a formal removal order and triggers a $1,000 to $5,000 penalty. Anyone previously granted voluntary departure who reentered without authorization is permanently ineligible to receive it again.¹²

Each pathway feeds a different piece of the annual total, which is why any single number leaves something out. The most defensible short answer stays with what ICE actually reports: 271,484 removals in FY 2024, with the FY 2026 pace running well above that.

1
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE Annual Report, FY 2024
2
Department of Homeland Security. Table 39 – Noncitizen Removals, Returns, and Expulsions
3
Department of Homeland Security. Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2022
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility
5
Department of Homeland Security. DHS Sets the Stage for Another Historic, Record-Breaking Year Under President Trump
6
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Enforcement and Removal Operations
7
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE’s Mission
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1225 – Inspection by Immigration Officers; Expedited Removal of Inadmissible Arriving Aliens; Referral for Hearing
9
Congress.gov. Expedited Removal of Aliens: An Introduction
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Issuance of Notices to Appear in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229c – Voluntary Departure