U.S. immigration authorities deported the largest number of illegal immigrants in nearly a decade last year, surpassing the record set during Donald Trump’s first term.
More than 271,000 immigrants were deported from the U.S. in the last fiscal year, according to a report released Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The ICE report comes just weeks before President-elect Trump takes office and plans to make mass deportations a cornerstone of his new administration.
President Joe Biden promised to pause deportations in 2021, but his administration eventually expanded deportations after a surge in border crossings.
In the newly published reportICE said the sharp increase in deportations last fiscal year was partly the result of a streamlined process.
More deportation flights went to more distant destinations, including Africa and Asia, where deportations from the United States have not been accepted for years, the agency said.
Most deportations in fiscal year 2024 involved migrants apprehended by border officials compared to those apprehended in the U.S. interior.
About 82% of the 271,000 immigrants deported this year were apprehended by border officials.
President-elect Trump has vowed to launch the “largest deportation operation in history” when he returns to office on January 20.
However, these promises are likely to come true enormous logistical and financial effort Challenges.
Before his decisive victory over Biden in November, Trump spent much of his campaign attacking the White House’s border policies.
Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Reuters that Biden’s deportations were insignificant compared to the high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency.
“On day one, President Trump will solve the immigration and national security nightmare that Joe Biden created by initiating the largest mass deportation of illegal criminals in United States history,” she said.
The number of migrant encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high in December 2023, but has declined significantly, particularly in recent months, and is now at its lowest level since July 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
She also attributed the increase in deportations to improved diplomatic efforts to persuade countries to take back more deportees.
The Mexican authorities are also taking increasingly rigorous action against the flow of migrants north to the US border.
In June, President Biden issued an executive order that sharply restricted asylum, which, along with help from Mexico, led to a decline in illegal border crossings.
Since then, the number of people released by the U.S. Border Patrol pending immigration court proceedings has fallen by 70%, the agency said.
