DHS Repatriations

Data Source

All Repatriations KHSM data are from the OHSS Statistical System of Record (SSOR). The SSOR is the authoritative source of DHS statistical data and undergoes rigorous validation. We construct SSOR data for the repatriations datasets from administrative records stored in the Enforcement Integrated Database (EID) and provided by ICE, USBP, and OFO.

Data Lineage

USBP extracts EID e3Processing apprehension data from the Border Patrol Enforcement Tracking System (BPETS) Snapshot reporting system. OFO extracts EID Unified Secondary (USEC) inadmissible data from the BorderStat reporting system. ICE extracts EID removals and returns data from the ICE Integrated Decision Support (IIDS) System Data Mart (DSSDM) reporting system. These agencies provide us their data as comma-separated values (CSV) files.

Units of Measure and Descriptive Variables

Units of Measure

The Repatriations KHSM reports on repatriations by ICE, USBP, and OFO. We count people who are repatriated more than once during the reporting period multiple times in the tables.

Repatriation

Any departure of an inadmissible or removable noncitizen out of the United States based on one of:

1. The compulsory execution of an order of removal against the person under Title 8 authority.
2. A return under Title 8 authority that is not pursuant to an order of removal.
3. An expulsion from the United States to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease pursuant to Title 42 authority public health order between March 2020 and May 2023.

Descriptive Variables

Repatriation Type

• Return: Confirmed movement of an inadmissible or removable noncitizen out of the United States not based on an order of removal. Includes voluntary departures, voluntary returns, withdrawals of applications for admission, and crew members without entry visas who must remain aboard their ships.
• Administrative return: A return completed by OFO that results from an administrative encounter. OFO is the only DHS component that completes administrative returns.
• Enforcement return: Any return completed by ICE, USBP, or OFO that results from an enforcement encounter.
• Removal: The compulsory and the confirmed movement of an inadmissible or removable noncitizen out of the United States by ICE, USBP, or OFO based on a final order of removal. A noncitizen who is repatriated pursuant to a removal order has administrative or criminal consequences placed on subsequent reentry owing to the fact of the removal.
• Title 42 expulsion: A noncitizen in a USBP or OFO encounter expelled from the United States as expeditiously as possible in the interest of U.S. public health to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. These expulsions are pursuant to the March 2020 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) order under Title 42 authority. Title 42 expulsions occurred between March 20, 2020, and May 11, 2023.

Detailed Return Types

• Crew members detained: Crewmembers without entry visas who must remain aboard their ships. Crew members detained are a form of administrative return.
• Voluntary departures: The departure of a noncitizen from the United States without an order of removal. May or may not follow a hearing before an immigration judge. A noncitizen allowed to voluntarily depart concedes removability, but can seek admission at a port-of-entry at any time. Failure to depart within the time granted results in a fine and a ten-year bar to several forms of relief from deportation. This is a subset of enforcement return.
• Voluntary returns: Returns granted to noncitizens encountered at the border instead of immigration removal proceedings. This is a subset of enforcement returns.
• Withdrawals: An arriving noncitizen’s voluntary retraction of an application for admission to the United States. This requires immediate departure from the United States instead of a removal hearing before an immigration judge or an expedited removal. Withdrawals are a form of return. They can be enforcement returns or administrative returns.
• Other returns: Includes stowaways, visa waiver program enforcement returns, and crew dispositions not included in crew members detained.

Detailed Removal Types

• Expedited Removals: Expedited removal (ER) is an administrative procedure described in INA § 235(b)(1). It allows DHS officials to remove certain noncitizens who have entered without inspection or who have committed misrepresentation or fraud without a hearing before an immigration judge. Persons being processed for ER who claim a fear of return to their country of removal, return, or last habitual residence are referred to a United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) Asylum Officer for fear screening. Noncitizens who are found to have a credible fear are placed in INA § 240 proceedings before an immigration judge. This is a subset of removals.
• Reinstatements of Removal Orders: When a previously deported immigrant can be deported again for subsequent illegal activity with no required judicial review, except in very limited circumstances.
• Other Removals: Includes all removals that are not expedited removal or reinstatements of removal orders. Primarily includes removals following INA §240 proceedings and administrative removal of aggravated felons pursuant to INA § 238(b).

Citizenship

A country to which a person owes allegiance and by which they are entitled to be protected. Each country sets its own rules for granting citizenship. These rules may be based on birth or naturalization. Some people may not have a country of citizenship.

Criminality (2-category)

A Yes/No variable that describes whether an individual was convicted of a criminal offense before.

Arrest Location

The location of the apprehension or arrest of an individual resulting in the detention stay:

• Border: Latest apprehension or arrest was by United States Border Patrol (USBP) or Office of Field Operations (OFO). We report noncitizens arrested by USBP or OFO and processed by ICE as Border arrests.
• Interior: Latest apprehension or arrest was by ICE. Includes referrals from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as well as noncitizens arrested at the border, subsequently released, and then re-arrested by ICE.

Repatriation Agency

The agency responsible for completing the repatriation being reported:

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)
• U.S. Border Patrol (USBP)
• Office of Field Operations (OFO)

We report repatriations that involve both ICE and USBP/OFO in completing the repatriation as ICE repatriations.

Data Processing

ICE, USBP, and OFO provide us with details of all noncitizens removed or returned by ICE and all those who book-out of CBP custody.

We clean and validate the data we receive from ICE, USBP, and OFO.

Processing ICE Data

We define ICE removals as ICE removal and return records with case status codes that include:

• Deported/Removed – Deportability
• Excluded/Removed – Inadmissibility
• Section 250 Removal

We define ICE Return cases as ICE removal and return records with case status codes that include:

• Withdrawal Permitted - I-275 Issued
• Voluntary Departure Confirmed
• VR Witnessed

We base ICE removal and return dates on Action Date. This is a derived variable constructed from the case closure date and the departure date. If the case closure date and the departure date are in the same fiscal year, we use the departure date as the Action Date. If the case closure date and the departure date are not in the same fiscal year, we use the date the case closure date as the Action Date.

Processing CBP Data

• We define USBP removals as USBP apprehensions of noncitizens with Mexican or Canadian citizenship and with dispositions of administrative deportation, reinstatement of removal, expedited removal (no fear claim), expedited removal/limited review, or bag and baggage and who do not have a book-in to ICE custody or ICE repatriation.
• We define USBP returns as USBP apprehensions with Mexican or Canadian citizenship and with dispositions of voluntary return and who do not have a book-in to ICE custody. After April 12, 2023, the citizenship limitation has been removed.
• We define OFO removals as OFO inadmissibility determinations of noncitizens with dispositions of administrative deportation, reinstatement of removal, expedited removal (no fear claim), expedited removal/limited review, or bag and baggage and who do not have a book-in to ICE custody.
• We define OFO returns as OFO inadmissibility determinations of noncitizens with dispositions of crew member detained, stow-away, voluntary departure, Visa Waiver Program (VWP) return to foreign, withdrawal, withdrawal in lieu of Expedited Removal (ER).
• We define Title 42 expulsions as encounters included in the USBP or OFO Title 42 dataset.

Data Cleaning

• Strip time values from dates in date fields.
• Strip special characters from the data columns.
• Delete extra blank columns or rows.

Integration

DHS Repatriations are the sum of Title 8 DHS removals (ICE removals and USBP/OFO removals), Title 8 DHS returns (ICE returns and USBP/OFO returns), and Title 42 expulsions. We stack ICE, USBP, and OFO removal, return, and expulsion data. We then de-duplicate records.

Imputation

We don’t substitute any missing data for the Repatriation KHSM.

Limitations

Undercount and Overcount

This KHSM represents a complete accounting of all repatriations completed by ICE, USBP, and OFO during the reference period. Our de-duplication process ensures we only include individual repatriations once. We report repatriations that involve both ICE and USBP/OFO in completing the repatriation as ICE repatriations.

CBP’s administrative records do not include explicit data on repatriations. Our reporting on CBP removals and returns are estimates based on dispositions, citizenship, detention records, and other information in noncitizens’ enforcement histories.

Accuracy

We extract data from live systems that are subject to change. Statistical information is subject to change due to corrections, systems changes, changes in data definition or adding information.

Previous months’ reporting may change during the same fiscal year as records mature and due to operational data quality efforts. We permanently lock data at the end of the fiscal year as part of the September monthly lock-down. Our encounter reporting always uses the most recent monthly updated data.

We round each row of data to the nearest 10 to protect privacy and security. As a result, the actual totals and the totals of the rounded rows can vary.

Timeliness

The Repatriations Key Homeland Security Metrics (KHSM) is updated on a 75-day delay following the end of the month to allow time for operational data quality checks and other data maturity efforts prior to release. We update this KHSM monthly, 75 days after the end of each month. We post tables on the first Tuesday after the 15th of the month. Data are current as of the report date and update previous releases.

Linkage Error

USBP apprehensions and OFO inadmissibles. We link USBP apprehensions and OFO inadmissibles data to the ICE detention and removals/returns data to determine if USBP/OFO cases have any subsequent book-ins to ICE detention or ICE removals. If so, we remove those USBP/OFO cases from estimated USBP/OFO removals or returns. We link data based on CIV_ID, an event identifier. This is a reliable identifier for linking records because CIV_IDs typically do not change between ICE, USBP, and OFO data systems.

Reporting Period

Repatriations data are available from 2010 to present. Data reported covers Fiscal Years 2010–2024.

Changes from Previous Releases

The sources, methods, and definitions used in this report are not substantially different from previous reports. No special caution is required when comparing these statistics with those in previous reports.

Related Data and Information

OHSS Reports:

• Immigration Enforcement and Legal Processes Monthly Tables
• Immigration Enforcement Actions Annual Flow Report
• Yearbook of Immigration Statistics