US removed 270,000 migrants in 1 year: official figures

US immigration authorities removed over 270,000 people last financial year, figures showed, weeks before Donald Trump takes office threatening to deport millions of migrants, Report informs via AFP.

The tally of removals is the final annual report under President Joe Biden, and is higher than at any time in the last decade -- including during Trump's first term as president.

The bulk of those forced to leave the United States had crossed the southern border illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in its report.

Around a third of them had criminal convictions, or were facing criminal charges.

Covering 12 months to the end of September, the period largely coincided with the presidential campaign in which Trump made clamping down on migration a key feature.

He pledged to launch the largest deportation operation in US history when he takes office on January 20.

The promise -- which focused heavily on the unsubstantiated claim that migrants commit more crimes than US citizens -- proved popular with voters.