President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in American history once he takes office next year. But the Biden administration is already doing a sizable amount of work in its final year in office, as deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reached a 10-year high in fiscal year 2024, according to a new government report.
ICE expelled over 271,000 unauthorized immigrants during the period, surpassing the previous peak of 267,000 deportations recorded during the Trump administration in fiscal year 2019 (which runs from October to September). The last time ICE reported more deportations was in 2014 under the Obama administration, when 316,000 people were expelled from the country.
The majority of deportations in 2024 involved migrants apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the border, accounting for 82% of removals, according to the 103-page report. The remaining deportees were arrested by ICE in jails or during operations within U.S. communities.
Despite the increase in deportations, the incoming Trump administration has vowed to dwarf all operations to date. ICE's non-detained docket of cases involving unauthorized immigrants ballooned to nearly 7.7 million in 2024, up from 3.3 million in 2020. This growth reflects record releases of migrants at the border during President Biden's tenure before asylum restrictions were implemented in June.
ICE highlighted its increased focus on individuals deemed a threat to public safety. More than 30% of those deported in 2024 had criminal charges or convictions, averaging over five offenses per individual. Among them were 3,706 suspected gang members and 237 individuals flagged for potential terrorist ties.
Tom Homan, the incoming border czar who was the architect of ICE's 'Zero Tolerance', has said that over the next four years the incoming government will prioritize deporting immigrants with criminal records and the 1.4 million people with pending deportation orders. However, Homan pointed out that no unauthorized immigrant would be exempt from removal.
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To achieve its goals, the Trump administration is exploring new strategies, including using military aircraft for deportations and deputizing National Guard soldiers to assist ICE. These measures aim to tackle the estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., but would require significant additional resources for ICE, which currently operates with 41,000 detention beds and around 6,000 deportation officers.
The report shows the agency faced challenges balancing its Southwest Border mission with interior enforcement operations. Nearly 10% of its personnel were deployed to assist at the border, reducing capacity for interior operations. This strain contributed to a 33.5% drop in overall arrests compared to 2023. However, ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) reported a shift in focus toward apprehending individuals with criminal histories.
In that context, immigrant and civil groups are preparing for what promises to be a challenging period, drafting legal briefs, coordinating messaging, urging immigrants to get legal aid and stockpiling cash to secure legal representation. Trump's mass deportation plan is also facing resistance from governors of states along the southern border, like New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
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