Democracy Dies in Darkness

ICE report shows sharp drop in deportations, immigration arrests under Biden

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Updated March 11, 2022 at 3:48 p.m. EST|Published March 11, 2022 at 10:37 a.m. EST
Migrant families from Central America walk along side the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico after crossing in to the U.S. near the city of Sasabe, Arizona. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
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Deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fell sharply last year under President Biden to the lowest levels in the agency’s history despite record-high border crossings, according to statistics released Friday in an annual report.

During the 2021 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, ICE recorded 59,011 deportations, down from 185,884 in 2020. The lower numbers were partly the result of enforcement changes triggered by the coronavirus pandemic that have allowed U.S. agents to rapidly expel unlawful border crossers under the Title 42 public health code, a procedure that does not count as a formal deportation.