U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws within the United States, deported a record 483,200 people in fiscal year 2026, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported by CBS News on November 12, 2026.
The figure is the highest annual total in the agency’s official history, surpassing the previous record of 442,640 deportations in fiscal year 2025.
What the Numbers Show
During the fiscal year that ended September 30, ICE reported more than 491,000 immigration arrests, including nearly 475,000 administrative arrests involving civil, rather than criminal, violations. DHS said both figures set new records.
The number of deportations was approximately 18% higher than the 409,849 removals recorded in fiscal year 2012 under President Barack Obama, a figure that had long served as a benchmark for the agency. Compared with the 271,484 deportations recorded in fiscal year 2024, the last full fiscal year of Joe Biden’s presidency, the increase was nearly 78%.
ICE made 50,925 arrests in August alone, exceeding the previous monthly record set in July. Arrests remained above 48,000 in September.
However, the record number of reported deportations does not necessarily mean that the number of formal removal orders carried out also reached a record. ICE statistics do not include data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency responsible for border enforcement, and do not distinguish between formal removals, voluntary returns and other departures. By broader measures, nationwide deportations were higher during certain periods in the early 2000s.
An analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, which collects federal immigration data on a case-by-case basis, found that formal removals accounted for just 63% of deportations in July and August 2026. The remainder consisted of voluntary departures and returns.
“I could not be more proud of the brave men and women of ICE, who have just broken new historic records,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
He added that the total number of ICE arrests in fiscal year 2026 exceeded the combined number recorded during all three full fiscal years of the Biden administration.
Who Is Being Arrested?
The administration has defended its enforcement campaign as a matter of public safety.
DHS highlighted the case of Raul Genesis Ortiz Moran, a Mexican national accused of second-degree murder and aggravated sexual violence in connection with the death of a two-year-old girl in Virginia. The allegations were independently confirmed by the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office.
The department also cited the case of Soili Xiomara Aparicio-Santos, a Honduran national deported in April who had been convicted in New York of attempting to murder her newborn son.
However, such cases do not represent the hundreds of thousands of people arrested by ICE.
A CBS News analysis published in August found that, in July 2026, for the first time during President Donald Trump’s second term, more than half of ICE arrests involved people who had no criminal convictions or pending charges in the United States.
Approximately 6% of people taken into ICE custody had convictions for violent offenses.
The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute found that, of approximately 980,000 deportations carried out jointly by ICE and CBP between January 2025 and July 2026, only about 20% involved people with criminal convictions. Among deportees who had lived in the United States for at least two years, 71% had no criminal convictions.
Political Fallout and What Comes Next
According to CBS News exit polling from the 2026 congressional elections, 58% of voters said immigration enforcement had gone too far, 22% said it was at the right level, and 20% believed it had not gone far enough.
Trump himself acknowledged concerns about the administration’s approach in an interview with Ross Douthat for 60 Minutes.
“I think it was too harsh,” Trump said.
He noted that his administration had received positive assessments for securing the border and removing dangerous criminals, but had also faced criticism over the deportation of long-term immigrants who worked in industries such as landscaping and hospitality and paid taxes.
Trump also expressed interest in working with Democrats in the new Congress on immigration legislation.
Administration officials, however, have indicated that enforcement will not slow down.
Stephen Miller, the architect of many of the administration’s restrictive immigration policies, has become White House chief of staff. According to sources familiar with the agency’s plans, ICE officers have been instructed to target approximately 19,000 arrests per week — a goal established before the elections and significantly higher than the agency’s previous pace.
Democrats are set to take control of both chambers of Congress in January and have pledged greater oversight of immigration operations and spending. Their ability to change the policy, however, is constrained by funding that has already been approved.
The tax and spending law signed by Trump in July 2025 allocated approximately $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security, including an additional $75 billion for ICE.
Of that amount, $45 billion was designated for expanding detention capacity, while nearly $30 billion was allocated to arrests, transportation, deportations and additional personnel.
