Florida was the top destination that immigrants released from the U.S.-Mexico border after entering illegally told federal law enforcement they planned to settle between the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, through the Biden administration, and into mid-2025, according to a new report.

From October 2018 through July 2025, most of which fell during former President Joe Biden’s single term, 4.5 million non-U.S. citizens were apprehended by Border Patrol and permitted to remain in the United States temporarily through court proceedings after entering the country illegally, in part due to the sheer volume of entries, which made detaining and immediately removing them difficult for the federal government.