Immigration agency deports highest numbers since 2014, aided by more flights

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, according to a report released Thursday that illustrates some of the financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out his pledge of mass deportations.

ICE, the main government agency responsible for removing people in the country illegally, had 271,484 deportations in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, nearly double from 142,580 in the same period a year earlier.

It was ICE’s highest deportation count since 2014, when it removed 315,943 people. The highest it reached during Trump’s first term in the White House was 267,258 in 2019.

Increased deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures for people sent to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador fueled the increase, ICE said. The agency had its first large flight to China in six years and also had planes stop in Albania, Angola, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Mauritania, Romania, Senegal, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Mexico was the most common destination for deportees (87,298), followed by Guatemala (66,435) and Honduras (45,923), the report said. Mexico and Central American countries are expected to continue to bear the brunt of deportations, partly because those governments more readily accept their respective citizens than some others and logistics are easier.

Still, ICE’s detention space and staff limited its reach as the number of people it monitors through immigration courts continued to mushroom. The agency’s enforcement and removals unit has remained steady at around 6,000 officers over the last decade while its caseload has roughly quadrupled to about 8 million people.