Biden claimed during a CNN Democratic debate that “In the first hundred days of my administration, no one – no one will be deported at all.” However, he has already shattered that promise less than a month into his administration.
The Numbers
United We Dream estimates that as of February 16, 2021:
Joe Biden’s administration deported over 26,000 immigrants – in just his first 27 days!
Biden’s Promise
Like most politicians on both sides, Biden made a lot of promises while on the campaign trail. One of which was to not deport anybody at all during his first 100 days. Joe and Kamala Harris claimed that Trump’s record of deportations and his immigration policy was a human rights violation and must be stopped immediately until the situation can be reassessed. However, it seems once in office Biden forgot this promise (I’m sure it won’t be the last thing he’ll forget).
Historical Comparison
This 27 day total is obviously a small data set and so we will have to wait to see how this trend continues in Biden’s administration. But we decided to compare Biden’s daily average to those of recent Presidents based on data from the DHS. We pulled the number of removals from each President’s highest deportation year and divided by 365 days – except in the case of Biden which was divided by 27 days.
Highest Daily Average Deportations While in Office
Biden (2021): 963 per day (in first 27 days)
Trump (2018): 924 per day
Obama (2013): 1,184 per day
Bush Jr. (2009): 1,040 per day
Clinton (2000): 516 per day
So as it turns out, Biden’s current daily deportation average is actually higher than Trump’s in his highest year in office (of data available). While not as high as Obama’s record setting 1,184 deportations a day (432,281 total in 2013), it is clear that deportations under the Biden administration have yet to slow from the last administration.