McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The pace of migrants being ordered deported by U.S. immigration judges so far this fiscal year is 50 percent higher than in 2019, the peak year for the Trump administration, according to a new report.
U.S. immigration judges have ordered 137,000 others deported in the first six months of Fiscal Year 2024, according to a report by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University. Additionally, nearly half a million migrants have been deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Border Patrol agents in that time frame.
“Compared with peak removals in FY 2019 during the prior administration, the pace of new removal orders today is 50 percent greater. The increase in removal orders coincides with the expansion of the ranks of immigration judges during the current administration,” according to TRAC’s report, “Top Places With the Most Immigrants Recently Ordered Deported.”
A senior U.S. administration official this week told reporters that from May 12, 2023 — when Title 42 was lifted — until April 17, the Biden administration has removed over 690,000 individuals, most of whom crossed the Southwest border. That included more than 105,000 family members from 170 countries around the world.
The government of Mexico also recently released a report on the number of migrants it has released so far in 2024, with most sent to neighboring Guatemala and Honduras.
TRAC obtained data on individual deportation cases, including locations, which found most removal of migrants — nearly 11,000 — occurred in New York City, followed by Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston, where 8,336 deportation orders were issued. Other cities include:
- Los Angeles County, California, with nearly 6,000 removals ordered.
- Dallas County, Texas, had 2,815 removals.
- Miami-Dade County, Florida, had 2,521 removals ordered.
- Montgomery County, Texas, outside Houston, with nearly 2,000 removals.
- Travis County, Texas, which includes Austin, with 1,664 removals ordered.
- Orange County, California, with 1,576 removals.
- Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, with 1,527 removals.
The report notes that although Cook County, Illinois, had more asylum-seekers, the number of removal orders places it at only 10th in the United States.
The number of immigration court cases completed during the past six months took an average of 2.5 years from start to finish, or 942 days, the report found. Cases resulting in removal orders were swifter — 627 days on average, TRAC reports.
Cases in which immigration judges granted asylum or another form of relief took an average of 3.7 years to complete, or 1,361 days. TRAC reports the number of backlogged immigration cases currently is 3.5 million.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
