Status as of October 22, 2026. A new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) analysis estimates that U.S. authorities carried out about 980,000 deportations and returns between January 20, 2025, and July 31, 2026. The study projects an annualized total of roughly 660,000 for fiscal year 2026, below the administration's goal of one million per year. These are research estimates based on federal enforcement records, not a newly released comprehensive DHS tally.
How many people have actually been deported since Donald Trump returned to the White House? The best detailed new estimate is close to one million over 18 months—but that headline number includes people turned away at the border as well as immigrants arrested inside the country. The MPI report released October 22 also finds that only about one in five of those counted had a criminal conviction.
How does the count compare with Trump's goal?
MPI estimates 620,000 deportations on an annualized basis for fiscal 2025 and projects about 660,000 for fiscal 2026 using records available through July 31. The 2026 figure is a projection, not a finalized count for the fiscal year that ended September 30. MPI says that pace is 26% above the average annual number during fiscal years 2021–24, but well below the administration's publicly stated target of one million a year. Its historical comparison puts the 2000 total at approximately 1.86 million.
MPI drew on Customs and Border Protection records released through Freedom of Information Act requests and ICE records obtained by the University of California's Deportation Data Project. DHS has not routinely published the comparable detailed monthly enforcement series since January 2025.
Were these people deported from inside the United States?
Not all of them. Of the estimated 980,000 total, MPI attributes about 340,000 to people turned around by CBP at the border or a port of entry, another 340,000 to people first encountered at the border who were later deported by ICE, and approximately 300,000 to deportations following arrests inside the United States. In other words, 69% were initially intercepted at the border, although some were removed only after additional processing by ICE.
Deportations originating with interior arrests are growing. Their share rose from 28% during January–December 2025 to 39% in July 2026. MPI also estimates that 390,000 of the people deported by ICE had lived in the United States for at least two years; roughly 90,000 had lived here for ten years or more. These residency figures concern ICE deportations, not all 980,000 ICE-and-CBP cases.
How many people had criminal convictions?
According to MPI, roughly 190,000 people—20% of the total—had a criminal conviction. Among immigrants who had lived in the United States at least two years before deportation, 71% had no criminal conviction. That is not the same as saying all the others had no pending charges or no immigration violations: a criminal conviction, a criminal charge and an immigration-law violation are different categories.
Why does the White House claim nearly 1.2 million?
In an October 20 White House statement, the administration said nearly 1.2 million people had been “deported or removed” since the beginning of Trump's second term. MPI's 980,000 estimate ends on July 31, while the White House statement came almost three months later and does not provide a detailed, directly comparable breakdown. The available public records therefore do not establish exactly how the two totals reconcile.
There is a second source of confusion. MPI counts both formal removals, which can carry legal barriers to reentry, and returns, a broader category including many border turnarounds and some voluntary departures. MPI says about 170,000 ICE voluntary departures or returns are already included within its 980,000 total; they must not be added to that figure again. The administration's separate claims about millions of people leaving through deportation or “self-deportation” measure a wider—and harder to verify—population.
The study documents a major rise in interior enforcement, but it also shows why a single deportation headline cannot describe everyone affected. Readers seeking more on the legal process can consult Factum Immigration's guide to immigration court and removal proceedings.