Deportations in the USA Reach Highest Level Since 2014

Deportations of immigrants from the United States reached a new high last year, according to a recently released report by the U.S. government. This is part of President Joe Biden's efforts to counter illegal immigration. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded the deportation of approximately 271,000 immigrants to 192 countries in the fiscal year 2024, which ended on September 30. This number marks the highest level since Biden took office in 2021 and surpasses the annual deportations during President Donald Trump's term, which lasted from 2017 to 2021. Biden, who ran as a Democrat to reverse Trump's more restrictive immigration policies, faced high numbers of illegal immigration and ultimately had to toughen his approach. Trump, a Republican who recently won another term in the White House, plans to increase the number of deportations of illegal immigrants to regulate immigration more strictly. Estimates by the government and think tanks suggested that about 11 million immigrants without legal status or with temporary protected status were living in the U.S. in 2022, with experts now estimating 13 to 14 million. The upcoming Trump administration plans to mobilize extensive federal resources to implement the planned deportation measures. During Trump's first term, he was only partially successful in increasing deportations, with 267,000 deportations in fiscal year 2019, which was below the deportation rate of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. Overall, Biden’s deportations and returns to Mexico in fiscal year 2023 were higher than in any year under Trump. Despite the increase in deportations in fiscal year 2024, arrests of immigrants living illegally in the U.S. decreased by 33% compared to the previous year. The agency's report attributes this decline to the increased support of officers in border security operations.