More Mexicans were deported annually under Biden than by Trump
MEXICO CITY — The Trump administration has launched an unprecedented immigration enforcement operation across the United States to deport people illegally, but data compiled by a Mexican research organization shows deportations of Mexicans were lower last year than in each of the previous four years.
There have been about 300,000 deportations of Mexicans per year under the Biden administration. Since President Trump returned to the White House last January, the United States has deported just over 144,000 Mexicans to their homeland by the end of 2025, according to Mexican government data.
The analysis by Quinto Elemento Lab, an independent, nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in Mexico City, shows current trends in migration from Mexico to its northern neighbor and highlights the conditions in Mexico that are driving these trends. Data shows that nearly 90 percent of those deported are men.
“The deportation policy that Trump has implemented does not appear to be as harsh in numerical terms as in previous years,” said Efraín Tzuc, data analyst at Quinto Elemento Lab.
But raw numbers don’t tell the whole story about Mexican immigration. The overall numbers have fallen in part because the number of Mexican immigrants entering the U.S. has decreased since President Trump increased border security. Less successful entry may mean fewer extractions.
For generations, Mexican immigrants have crossed the border in search of economic opportunity. That motivation remains valid, but Mexican government data analyzed by Quinto Elemento Lab finds that most immigrants deported in 2025 come from states rocked by cartel violence.
The largest number of Mexicans deported came from Chiapas, Mexico’s southernmost state, which borders Guatemala, with 12,786 people. From there to the US-California border it is a journey of approximately 2,000 miles.
In the past, a state in central Mexico would likely be the source of the most immigrants, but cartels have waged bloody wars in Chiapas over the past decade as criminal groups struggle to control lucrative drug trafficking and migrant smuggling routes from Guatemala to Mexico.
The ultra-violent Jalisco New Generation cartel, which started in the western state of Jalisco, now maintains a presence in remote Chiapas. According to security analysts, the criminal group was competing for control of migrant smuggling routes in the region and waging bloody wars for territory. Extortions of citizens have skyrocketed as the group has implemented a pattern of extorting from the communities they control to pay the salaries of the foot soldiers.
After Chiapas, the other two states where deported Mexicans came were Guanajuato with 11,552 people and Guerrero with 11,044 people.
As in Chiapas, the Jalisco New Generation cartel now dominates life in parts of Guerrero, driving the entire population from their villages to seize the region for drug trafficking operations and opium cultivation. Cartels here have increased their use of violence, using drone bombs not only to target their enemies and military convoys but also to drive villagers from their homes.
In one incident in 2024, the Jalisco New Generation cartel dropped more than 100 bombs in 24 hours on a community in the Guerrero mountains, according to a former cartel agent who witnessed the bombings.
The southern state of Oaxaca had the fifth highest number of people deported from Mexico, with 9,133 people.
Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in the country, with 16 percent of the population living in extreme poverty, according to government data. The state has long been an exporter of immigrants to the United States seeking work to support their families back home.
The trend found in the Quinto Elemento Lab analysis — that more Mexicans are being deported each year under the Biden administration than under the second Trump administration — is also reflected in statistics on deportees of all nationalities.
A New York Times analysis of federal U.S. data shows that in 2025, the Trump administration deported nearly 540,000 people last year. That’s 50,000 fewer than 2023 and 110,000 fewer than 2024, the final year of the Biden administration.
This article was published in collaboration with Puente News Collaborative, a nonprofit bilingual newsroom covering stories from Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico border.
